Tonight, I Love You A Sequel
by MayAngelsLeadYouIn
Summary: Sara, Seth and Sydley have gotten the experiment and are on their way to save the planets. But will it be as easy as just walking in there and showing the government what they have found? Or will it test their skills, relationship and bravery? PF Sequel.
1. It's A Beautiful Night & I'm Opened Up,

**Woohoo! First chapter of the sequel! I hope it's not disappointing. Not really much happens, but ah well. BTW, the words like_ this _are conversations that are in the mind. But my readers are smart. I'm sure yall would have figured that out. Love you guys!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Race to Witch Mountain. I'm not sure if I still need to include this, considering it's no longer a part of the movie. But... Just to be safe. xoxo**

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><p>We were out of Earth atmosphere withing five minutes. This still didn't seem real. I wasn't sure what to do with myself. I paced the main room until I realized from Seth and Sara's constant glances that I was probably distracting them, so I sat in one of the chairs behind them and watched out the huge window.<p>

"Let us get further out and we'll be able to put the ship on auto-fly." Sara told me. So I waited. Finally, they stood from their chairs and came to sit by me.

"How long is this trip?" I asked.

"Approximately 46 hours." Seth answered. Oh, great. That's a long time to be stuck in a spaceship hurtling through outerspace. I could feel the claustrophobic panic creeping up on me.

"We have relaxers and sedatives if you need one, Sydley." Sara whispered. "But if you would rather just be distracted, I thought maybe we could start working on your powers." This brightened me up.

"Powers? Yeah, that sounds good. Let's do that."

"Since I'm a mind reader, I can look through your memories and find what your power is. You're lucky. Most people, well, the ones that don't know a mind reader, have to have this done by complete strangers."

"So, you're going to rack through my memories?"

"Yes. Back to the first few months of your life. THat is when you know your powers, even though you don't comprehend or use them."

I sighed. "Alright." I was a little comprehensive... My memories, my thoughts, are personal... But it's just Sara.

"Just relax. Try to clear your mind."

Ha. Right.

I didn't feel anything physically, but mentally, just knowing that she was going through my mind, i felt... violated.

Silence.

And more silence.

And even more silence.

I guess seventeen years holds a lot of memories to sift through.

Sometime between the silence and the silence, Seth had grabbed my hand comfortingly. I rubbed my thumb across the back of his hand, a movement that had always soothed me.

Finally, "Oh! Sydley! This is great! I can be your mentor! Help you learn faster!"

"Wait, what?"

"Your power! It's like mine, in some ways. You can control everything with your mind! You can read minds, too! But, unlike me, you have the ability to project your thoughts! I can project my thoughts through touch, but you simply have to will the person to hear you, and they can!"

So, I'm a telekinesis. And a mind reader. And a mind speaker? Cool.

"Mind speaker? I like that. Very convenient."

"Oh, it is! Now, to learn to use your power is very simple. The first step is simply understanding that you have these powers."

Powers understood? Check.

"Then you must will yourself to be able to hear the other persons mind. Try it!"

Okay. Will myself to hear her mind... er...

_Hear her mind, Sydley. C'mon. Sara. Hear what she's thinking._

I imagined a string, like a telephone wire, connecting from her to me. Her words traveling down the wire, into my mind. Her words into my mind. Her words, my mind.

_**She's got this! Come on, Sydley! Will yourself to hear** **me!**_

Bloody Hell!**  
><strong>It was weird, hearing her voice in my mind. Hearing her voice, but not seeing her mouth move. It was like it was bouncing around up there, echoing off of my skull.

"I heard you! I heard you telling me to will myself to hear you!"

"Really? That quickly?"

I imagined the wire between us again. Imagined my thoughts flowing into her mind. My thoughts, her mind.

_**Sara?**_

The wire was still going strong, and I immediately heard her response.

_**I can read your mind anyways. Try Seth.**_

There was now an imaginary wire connecting Seth and I. _C'mon, Seth. Hear me._

_**Seth?**_

"Yes! Syd, I heard you!" He jumped up and grabbed my face into his hands. "How are you learning this so fast?"

"I don't know! I-" But he cut me off, pressing his lips to mine. I sighed into his kiss, savoring the sugary vanilla taste. I heard Sara stand and mumble something about getting food and walk away. I broke from Seth sheepishly.

"She didn't have to leave." I mumbled. Seth just laughed. He was completely different now that we were on his ship heading towards his planet. Happier. Touchier. "I'm really tired. Mentally. It's not a headache, really, but my brain hurts. Is that going to go away as I learn to use my powers?"

"Eventually, yes. you're using parts of your brain you didn't even realize you had before, so it will exhaust you at first. Like physical exercise."

Oh, joy. I fucking hate exercise.

"Do you need to sleep?" I nodded and we went to find Sara in the kitchen. After a quick meal of an apple and some amazing sweet tea, Seth took me to a room down the hallway from the kitchen.

"How big is this ship?" I was amazed at the size.

"Two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, two closets, a few mechanical rooms, and the main flight room. This ship was designed as a home. You could live in here, if you needed to."

"Will you stay in here with me?" I was scared to sleep alone. He nodded,

"Of course." And he opened the door to the room.

It was so... cozy. Comfortable. Nice, tan, curved walls. Red accents. A mirror and dresser. A full size bed. Nicer than my motel room I shared with Jack, that's for sure. I had been expecting a dark, cold, black and grey room. The only dark thing about this room was the sky I could see outside of the skylight style windows. Seth dug through the drawers of the dresser and pulled out clothes. Normal clothes. So, there's no weird alien uniform. Good. I had been a little worried about that.

"These are Sara's, but you can sleep in them." HE handed me a nice tank top and cotton shorts set. Very comfortable feeling. Nothing abnormal about them. Then he stepped out of the room so I could change. When I had gotten out of my clothes and into hers, I went and got him back in the room. He flipped off the lights and we crawled into the bed. Even though it was a full size bed and there was plenty of room for the both of us, we crammed together in the middle. One of his arms around my waist, holding me tightly to his now bare chest, one hand in the middle of my back, and my arms wrapped around him. Comfort.

I decided to see how far my powers would stretch.

_**Goodnight, Sara.**_

_**Goodnight, Sydley**__**Compton!**_She replied, enthusiastically.

Now, that was freaking cool. I tapped into the wire connecting me to Seth.

_**Just kiss her! It's not like you haven't kissed her before! But what if she doesn't like it when I kiss her? What if I'm a bad kisser? What if I kiss her too much? I just can't seem to get enough of that taste. Like, peppermint and chocolate. Oh, just kiss her, you coward!**_

I laughed on the inside, turned my head to his, and kissed him.

"Good night, Seth."

"Good night, Syd."

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><p><strong>I wish Alexander Ludwig was lying in my bed... D,X<strong>

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><p><strong>S<strong>


	2. The Look In Your Eyes Says So Much

**Abl;kadfkd;kfdas. I have like, seven chapters written out! I just am rarely having time to type them up. However, I did make a facebook page SPECIFICALLY for my fanfiction people BD. So, if you want to... ya know... add me. talk to me. kick my ass every time I'm not posting fast enough... ** / ?id= 100003513324410

**so... yeah. (:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Race to Witch Mountain. That is all.**

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><p>I awoke to Seth rubbing my back. I opened my eyes and saw it was still night outside. Then I realized... We're in space. It's always night in space. Man, this is a mind fuck.<p>

"What time is it?" I mumbled.

"Nearly eleven." He kissed my temple.

"At night?"

"No, silly. In the morning. We slept for nearly twelve hours!"j

"Where's Sara?" I felt bad for having slept for so long, but in my defense, that was the first nights proper sleep I'd gotten in ages! Those cold lonely motel beds just don't cut it. I thought of Jack, hoping he was okay. I wondered, could my powers reach that far? I once again imagined a wire connecting from my brain, trailing out of the space ship, through the miles and miles of space we had flown, into Earths atmosphere, to wherever Jack was.

_**Jack? Jack, can you hear me? It's me, Syd. Jack, just think something back. I can hear you if you do. C'mon Jack...**_

I listened for his voice, for some sign that he had heard me, hoping against hope that I would hear him. But nothing happened. It hadn't worked. I suppose it was wishful thinking. After all, I had just found out about my powers a few more than twelve hours ago, but I had gotten my hopes up of hearing Jack's voice and knowing he was okay.

Seth was staring at me.

"What?"

"Well, you just kind of... zoned out for about five minutes. Are you okay?" He sounded worried.

"I'm fine!" I smiled. "Just thinking about Jack. Hoping he's okay, wondering where is he, what he's doing, if he's alone. It was just he and I for years, and now he's possibly all alone. Maybe Alex is with him, but if not, then I just completely abandoned him on Earth by himself." I felt a tear slip out as I thought about this.

"You are regretting your choice to come."

"No! Of course not! I am just regretting my choice to leave Jack alone. I wish I had made him come, or at least begged a little harder for him to think about it. But maybe he's happy. I'm just over thinking things. I'm sure he's fine. Where did you say Sara is?"

My smile didn't convince him, but he just shook his head and told me that she was probably in the main room. I detached myself from his body, which my body seemed to meld to perfectly, and set off to go find her. Sara. Maybe her powers were stronger and she could reach Jack. Maybe. Hopefully. I found her in the main room, as Seth had predicted. She was sitting at a table writing really fast. Whatever she was doing looked important and I didn't want to interrupt her, so I turned around and made to leave, when she called me back.

"You're okay, Sydley. I can't reach Jack either.. I don't know how you can reach people in other rooms, honestly. I have to be in the same room to communicate with them. And, ever since you learned of your powers, I can only hear what you want me to hear. How do you do it? How do you block me out?" She sounded frustrated. I explained to her how I imagined the wires connecting everyone to my mind.

"I see. Maybe... I can only read your mind if you keep the connection over the wire open to me. Try that."

So I did. I didn't will her to hear what I was thinking, but I did will the connection open.

_**How did you know I was coming to talk about Jack if you can't read my thoughts?**_

_**I just knew. I knew you would be worried about him. I can read your thoughts now, obviously. Try leaving our connection open for a little while, see if it works.**_

**"I** will, but can we talk normal? Mind conversations wear me out!"

"Of course. And the exhaustion will go away. It's like physical exercise. When your body gets used to it, it stops making you hurt."

"Yeah, that's what Seth told me. Unfortunately, I'm lazy and I hate exercise." I frowned. Sara just laughed.

"You have to be hungry. You haven't eaten much in the past few days."

"I'm a little hungry, yeah." Truth was, I used to eat like a horse, but ever since my parents died and left me with Jack, and with Jack and I not having too much money, I'd gotten used to barely eating.

"Sydley, I'm sorry about your parents. I didn't know that they were murdered and left you in Jacks care. I thought that was a choice. You miss them a lot."

"I do. But if they hadn't died and left me with Jack, I wouldn't have met you. I wouldn't have met your brother."

"You never talk about them to anyone."

"No." I was hoping she would realize that I didn't want to talk about them now.

"Sometimes, it helps to talk about them. Sometimes, it is the only way to get closure on something that still hurts you so deeply."

"Right. Now, how about that food?"

"Of course." She sounded disappointed. I hated to disappoint her, but I didn't want to talk about it. After their murder, I was sent to the schools counselor. When I wouldn't open up, they sent me to a professional shrink. When I still wouldn't open up, they just gave up on me. Jack asked me about it twice, but just to show that he cared. He understood that I didn't want to talk about it and he respected my decision.

"I respect your decision not to talk about it as well." Sara told me as she put some eggs and buttered toast on my plate. "I just wanted you to know I'm here for you."

Right. Connection, closed.

"Well, thanks. I just don't like feeling pressured to talk about it. Somethings I just want to keep inside."

She nodded and the conversation was dropped. We were still about thirty hours from their planet, and I was getting antsy. I didn't like being locked away like this. Sara must have noticed my unease because she suggested I take a relaxer. "They work for twelve hours. You take one and are calm for eight hours, then fall asleep for four. Most continue to sleep and wake up normally, but if you wake up after four hours, we have sleeping pills and sedatives."

"I can't believe I'm reacting like this. I don't want to have to rely on drugs to keep me calm. And where the Hell is Seth? I haven't seen him since I woke up, and that was about three hours ago."

"Perhaps he is still in the room, then." We went to go look for him and found him still in the bed, asleep. Just like any other teenage boy, sleeping the day away. Of course, there wasn't much else to do on the ship that was hurtling through space...

"Seth! Wake up!" Sara spoke. He shot up.

"Is Syd okay?"

"I'm fine," I laughed, though the fact that I'm the first thing he worried about brought huge butterflies into my stomach. "Go back to sleep. You have to be exhausted. We were just wondering where you were at."

"Or you can get up and come watch movies with us." Sara suggested.

"Yeah, alright." He slowly stood, stretching his beautiful body and putting a shirt on. "But first, I need food."

Sleep and eat? Typical boy.

We made Seth eggs and toast, then went to the flight room where Sara pulled a projector down.

"One thing our planet loves about yours, is your movie entertainment."

"Wait, you guys watch Earth's movies?" Nod. "Do you have Harry Potter?"

"Actually, yes. My family loves Harry Potter! Harry Potter marathon?"

I nodded, excited. She put in the first movie, gave me a relaxer and some water to swallow it with, and we settled down to watch the movies. This ship. Is fucking. Amazing. It was like a theatre, but with sofas and lounge chairs.

"Was that a relaxer? Are you okay?"

"Just feeling a little claustrophobic." We laid back on the couch, nestled close to each other, and just chilled. Halfway through the movie, an alarm started going off. Sara went over to the window to check it.

"It's alright, just letting us know we will hit the worm hole in approximately four minutes."

"And after the worm hole?"

"We still have thirty or so hours to get to our planet."

"Hm. And how are people going to react to me being from Earth?"

"We're not sure... There have only ever been a handful of people brought in from other planets and reactions all varied. We're a little apprehensive, with you being from Earth and our planet attempting to over take Earth. But we are sure that most will be accepting."

The uncertainty didn't bother me like it should have. Oh, these relax pills are amazing.

"You will be fine." Seth whispered into my ear. But I wasn't worried. Everything was going to be just peachy.

When we got closer to the worm hole, the ship spoke, "One minute." Then, "Thirty seconds... Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One."

I felt a jerk somewhere around my naval region and my head was spinning. The ship dipped a bit, then everything was back to normal.

"That was rather anti-climatic." I noted. It was darker outside, we were much further from the sun now, but somehow the stars seemed to shine brighter.

The next four hours passed by uneventfully. I felt myself growing tired a little ways into the third movie. After making them promise to wake me if anything happened, I went to the bedroom. Seth followed and cuddled up beside me in the bed. I was asleep before his arms even snaked around my waist.

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><p>I opened my eyes.<p>

"I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up." Seth laughed.

"What time is it now? How long was I asleep for?"

"It's a bit after noon. You slept over fifteen hours! We only have seven hours left until we arrive."

"Fifteen hours? That's weird. I guess I don't have the sun to wake me up anymore. And this has been such nice, peaceful sleep. No dreams or nightmares." It was strange. Before, I would wake from a nightmare just to fall back into another one six out of seven nights a week. I'm not complaining about the lack of nightmares, it's just weird. "What's it like? Kubla Kahn?"

"It was once beautiful. We have continents, in a way. But ours are all islands. There are thousands of them and each one is connected to the next by either bridges or interisles, or what you call interstates, depending on how far apart they are. Our island is called Cisco. It's about a two day walk from the Capitol. I just hope you get to see my planet how it used to look, lush and colorful. Everything is dying or dead now."

We laid in a peaceful silence for an hour, the only sound made was our breathing. I didn't feel like I constantly had to have conversation with him, which was nice. I just studied him. His movements, his chest, his face, particularly his blue eyes, which were studying me. His blue eyes that could tell a million stories. Just from his eyes, I knew everything was going exactly as it should go. Every stone falling into place. This study of each other, the way our bodies felt next to each other and wrapped around each other... this was more intimate that anything else I'd ever experience. It didn't take a kiss or a touch in any certain places, just us, together. To me, it was beautiful.

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><p><strong>So... Yeah. Lemme know what you think. I've been messing around with the idea of adding in a chapter of Jack and Alex down on Earth. But I don't know if that's something you guys would be interested in? OR would you rather me focus on our little love birds? Opinions!<strong>

**xoxo, **

**Moe.**


	3. Nothing Can Touch Us Out Here

**I am ashamed. It has been far to long since I updated. The worst part? I've had the next four chapters written out since BEFORE I even published the first chapter! I just haven't had time. On a happier note, THE HUNGER GAMES COMES OUT IN TWO DAYS! I, for one, am excited.**

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><p>We had been laying in the bed for hours. "Sara..." I hated to end this, but I felt bad knowing she was somewhere on this ship alone.<p>

"Right. Sara." Seth didn't seem to thrilled about ending whatever you want to call what just happened either.

We slowly crawled out of the bed and went to the Flight Room, which was the last place we had seen Sara. When she wasn't in there, we searched the rest of the ship and found her passed out in the other bedroom, so we went into the Flight Room and started another movie. Seth told me he would be back and disappeared. I was 45 minutes into Mulan and wondering where the hell he was, betting to myself that he had probably gone back to the bedroom and fallen asleep, when he reappeared holding two huge bowls of spaghetti. I think I just fell in love.

"Spaghetti is my favorite! You know how to cook?"

"Well. I can do the basics." He smiled as he handed me my bowl and I thanked him. I began to chow down as I realized that I was starving and this spaghetti was amazing! The fact that the inhabitants of Kubla Khan ate such familiar food was comforting. Plus, they like Harry Potter, so they have to be good people, right?

For three hours we just sat and watched movies. Their collection was very extensive.

"You will reach your destination in one hour." The ship informed us.

"Should we wake Sara? And I might need to change into more appropriate clothes." Somehow, I didn't think a tank top and short shorts would make a very good first impression. Thankfully, Sara and I are basically the same size, so I have plenty of clothes at my disposal.

"Yes. That would be best." Seth agreed. I went into Sara's room. She looked so peaceful, I hated to disturb her.

"Sara? Sara, we're about an hour away." As I said this out loud, reality hit me like a ton of bricks and I was overcome with a terrible case of butterflies in my stomach. Sara was slowly waking.

"An hour away? I'll be out shortly." She replied, still sounding half asleep. I walked out of her room and into the one Seth and I shared across the hall. Seth had laid out a pair of jeans, a shirt, a jacket and some socks. It felt weird, him laying out my clothes for me. Reminded me of my mom. I missed my mom and dad. So much. Thinking about them made me want to just sit down and have a good cry. But instead, I pulled on Sara's clothes and put on a strong face. If I cry now, I'll have nasty, red puffy, crying eyes when I first meet the people of Kubla Khan. That would be a sign of weakness. I don't want them to think I'm weak. Sara and I both emerged from our rooms at the same time. As we were walking to the Flight Room, she told me that they would have to turn off the auto-fly and navigate the ship themselves. I didn't feel awkward on the ship anymore, so this didn't bother me. We walked over to the captain chairs where Seth was already standing. He smiled as he turned and saw me walking towards him, and pulled me in for a kiss. The sugary vanilla taste gets stronger and stronger every time, I swear. But even stronger than the sugary vanilla taste, was a feeling of... happiness. True happiness. The smile on his face when he looked at me was not fake. It was showing me how truly happy he was, showing me that this was the right decision to make.

"Look."

I looked out the window and saw their planet for the first time. It was... dead. The size was considerably larger than Earths, and there were, in fact, thousands of islands. Most were brown with a few splashes of green here and there. The water was a rather nasty looking color. Basically, it was ugly, yet beautiful in a tragic way. I wasn't sure how to tell them that their planet is nasty and dead and gross.

"It's... Wow. This is so crazy." I wasn't lying. It was crazy. It was a planet that wasn't Earth. Holy shit. Close-minded skeptics, suck on this! The closer and closer we got to this planet, the more intense the butterflies in my stomach became and the rockier the flight became.

"We have to take over now." Seth told me, giving me a comforting squeeze on my hand. I nodded and took a seat on the chair behind them, choosing to close my eyes until we landed. I felt the ship touch ground and turn off. "Sydley? Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes to see both siblings standing in front of me.

"Oh, yeah! I'm just... not good with landing." I lied, not wanting to admit that I was scared out of my fucking mind. Mind reading powers or not, I knew that they could easily see through my pathetic lie. Not wanting to feel their worrisome stares anymore, I stood and walked to the door, which slid open. I couldn't exit without them by my side. I mean, I could, technically, but mentally, I couldn't, so I waited for them to join me, and together we walked down the ramp into a huge dead field. The air around us had a weird smell. Like honeysuckles mixed with wet hay. It was sickeningly sweetly nasty. The field was huge but brown, looking like it used to be a corn field, and there were a few sparse trees surrounding it.

"Welcome to Kubla Khan." Sara smiled. I laughed.

"Thanks. This is so damn unreal feeling!"

"The house is through these trees over here." Sara guided me through a little patch to the right of us. Seth was holding my hand, which comforted me, but I still couldn't get over the feeling that any second now I was going to be arrested and thrown into a prison, or worse, for trespassing. When we got through the patch of trees, which was silent - void of any animal or wind rustled branches, no leaves stirring, just silence- I saw a huge house. It was white, Greek-styled, and beautiful.

"This is your house?" I gasped.

"No, this is Jon's. But all houses on Cisco are exactly the same. Jon is part of the rebellion as well. We can't go to our house, because it is under constant watch, so we have to stay here." Sara reported sadly. We walked to the huge house and into the back door. So they don't knock on this planet? The inside of the house was just as beautiful as the outside. All white everything, but in a beautiful, classic way. Not the insane asylum, hospital way. There were homey touches everywhere. Pictures, books, magazines, flowers. I even saw a cat running around. So much like Earth.

Seth squeezed my hand, silently asking how I was doing. I turned to him with an honest smile. This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! He returned my smile, as well as a slight kiss. Sara had left us alone in the living room we had walked into.

"So, you're okay?" He asked as he slid his arms around my waist, pulling me into him.

"I'm good, so far. Honest!" And I really was. I just had to think of this like the time I moved in with Jack and had to change schools. I met new people then, and I was find. It was simply a matter of forgetting. Forgetting that this isn't Earth, and that I'm here to aid in a rebellion, and that these are aliens. Although, I suppose I'M the alien here. I explained all of this to Seth.

"That's right." He smiled, playfully. "**You're** the freak on the planet." I laughed, then playfully acted hurt. "But it's okay, because I love freaks." He winked.

Sara chose this time to return with a group of people. Five of them to be exact. Seth walked over and did the natural high-five-slash-hug thing that guys do, then came back by my side.

"Syd, these are our friends. They're all part of the rebellion. This is Stella, A tall, tan, beautiful blonde with a lot of freckles and a friendly look. "She can see your past with one touch. Steven," A dark-skinned boy with a fro and warm brown eyes. "He can control the mood of a room. Travis," A depressed looking, yet still attractive guy who looked like he was really wishing he was anywhere else. "He's a shape-shifter. And this is Jon," Shaggy brown hair, a dorky smile, beautiful, just like everyone else on this damn planet, apparently. "He's a healer. Guys, this is Sydley. She can read minds as well as project her own thoughts!" There was a quick round of hello's before Sara added, "And... She's Seth's Xanadu."

There was a bit of a commotion. The girl... Stella? Clapped her hands and squealed, "Finally!" The friendly looking guys all clapped Seth on the back laughing, hooping and cheering, while the depressed guy muttered, "You fell in love with an Earth-Tard? Gross, dude. I'm going home." And walked out.

"Don't worry about Travis," Steven told me. "He hates anything that's not dark and gloomy."

I smiled at his comfort, but mentally asked Sara,

_**Why did he do that? Is it so bad, being from Earth?**_

_**No! That's just Travis. He's new to our group. He doesn't like any other planet besides our own. In fact, I'm not even so sure that he likes our planet. I think it's just that it's his home. He doesn't even really like us, but his parents were imprisoned a few months ago, and he had no where else to go. So we took him in. It's lik**__**e Steven said, don't worry about him.**_

Fine. Whatever. But if he doesn't like me, I don't like him either, I decided. I also decided to leave my connection with Sara open. I kind of miss her reading my mind.

"Sour puss aside, we still have a lot of work to do." Stella reminded us. "Getting the experiment back was just one-third of the battle. We still have to come up with a plan and get the government to see the truth."

Well this sounds... Fun.

The seven of us walked down a set of stairs into a basement. Wow, planning a rebellion in a basement? So typically cliche. But I love it! I feel so bad ass right now!

"Before you guys arrived, we hadn't made much head way in our planning. Now that you guys have made it back with Sydley, I do have a plan." Jon was speaking. It felt to me like he was the leader of the bunch. I saw Sara shoot him a warning look, then glance at Seth, who had been surprisingly silent since we arrived. I tapped into the wire between he and I.

_**He better not. I do NOT want Syd involved! It's to dangerous! He better not even fucking suggest it. I swear, if he does anything that could put her in harms way, I will rip him limb for limb.**_

Woah. I thought I was coming here to help! What the hell!

"We send Sydley in with the experiment." Seth made a noise of disbelief and anger. I grabbed his hand, silencing him.

_**Hear him out!**_ I ordered him.

"She's not from here. They won't be expecting her. They're more likely to listen to her. All she has to do is present the experiment! No fighting, no violence. If this doesn't work, we pull her out and go with plan B."

"What's plan B?" I asked.

"We don't have one yet."

There was a brief silence as everyone thought over this plan. Seth was fuming beside me, Sara was looking worried and shaking her head at me from across the room, the others looked thoughtful.

"I'll do it."

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><p><strong>OH, girl. Already doing stuff to piss her man off? That's a real woman XP. Haha, kidding. But seriously, I will not be at all offended if you bash me for taking so long to update. I fully deserve it. Now, go on. Give me your worse.<strong>

**xoxo, moe.**


	4. Don't Know Where We Are But I Know I See

**In an attempt to make up for taking so damn long to post the last chapter, I posted two today XD. YAY FOR CHAPTER POSTING. AND FOR HUNGER GAMES. I only hope that the movie isn't as big of a let down as most book-adaptions are. I will be severely PISSED. Also, if you haven't read the Hunger Games, I highly suggest you do it. The ending of the series peeved me off a bit, but I can't rant about it without giving it away. But if you've read the Hunger Games, PLEASE send me a PM so that I can rant to you. Tehe.**

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><p>"What?" Seth sounded furious.<p>

There was a long pause that turned into an awkward silence. His mind was going a million miles a second, so I couldn't understand anything he was thinking. But I could feel the fury, sadness and fear that was coming from his thoughts.

"Seth, I came here to help, not sit on the sidelines and watch like some Earth-Tard." I used the phrase Sour Puss had mumbled earlier.

"It's too dange-"

"Dangerous? Did you not hear him? I'll be _talking_. That's it. If this works, it'll save _lives, _Seth! No fighting. No violence. And I have heard any other plans. This one sounds good as anything else. And as for the 'danger'... It was dangerous to have you and Sara in the back of our car with a Siphon **AND **Henry Burke chasing you. It was dangerous to break into Witch Mountain and escape with your ship. It was dangerous to fall in love with you and come to your planet. But did that stop us? No. So why should this?"

Another long pause, though this one wasn't quite as awkward. I could almost feel the approval radiating off of the others. But I wasn't focused on them. I was focused on Seth, whose mind was still reeling with thoughts of anger, worry, and hurt. I didn't want to anger or hurt him, but if he thought I wasn't going to help, he was dead wrong. If he wanted me to stay out of this, then he shouldn't have brought me.

"I just wanted to keep you safe."

Then he turned and stormed up the stairs. Seconds later, there was a slammed door.

"Well. That was... intense." Steven was trying to lighten the mood.

"It was totally epic." Stella agreed.

"It was heartbreaking." Sara mumbled.

"I've never seen anyone stand up to Seth like that." Jon sounded shocked. All I felt was shame. He was just trying to protect me, like he has done the entire time that I've known him, and all I did was hurt him.

_**He will forgive you, Syd. He knows you're right. Just give him time to realize that he knows it.**_

_**Should I go talk to him?**_

_**No, just give him time.**_

I closed my eyes. Wow. Less than a week, and we're already fighting this bad? But it didn't weaken my feelings for him a bit.

_**My brother has never felt this way for anyone. He overreacts. Doesn't know how to handle things. You both have been under stress from the moment you met. It will get better, I promise. This too, shall pass.**_

I had to believe her. She hadn't led me wrong yet. Besides, I desperately wanted her to be right. I was taken up to the second floor of the house, put into a bed and given a weak sleeping pill. Man, these drugs are helpful. Hopefully, when I wake up, Seth will be by m-

I wok up the next morning feeling strange. I was alone for one. I was in a foreign room. The bed was too comfortable. The room too clean.

_**Sara?**_

_**Oh, you're awake! I'll be right up.**_

Seconds later, Sara was standing by my bed, smiling. "we're all downstairs, eating and planning our leave."

"Where's Seth? When are we leaving?"

"We're leaving at noon. It's almost 9:30 now. Seth is downstairs. But... He's distant. He's not talking to anyone, just sitting in the corner of the room silently. But he's thinking about you constantly."

"Is he still mad?"  
>"I don't think he's mad at you, Sydley. He's mad at Jon for suggesting it, me for supporting it, and himself for not being able to stop you."<p>

"He can't blame himself for not being able to stop me! I came here to help, and I'm going to help! This is _my_ choice, not his. And I would appreciate it if he would just accept my decision!"

"I know, Syd. I know. I'm not really sure what to do to make this better... Just... come on. Here's some clothes, put these on, come downstairs, and get some food."

I was mad. No. I was furious. How can he blame himself for MY decision? And Jon was doing what he thought was best. And it does seem to be best... I threw on the clothes Sara pulled out for me and followed her down the stairs into a kitchen where everyone was grouped around an island. Everyone but Seth, who, like Sara said, was off in a corner alone. Even Travis was sitting at the island. I was greeted with a chorus of "Good mornings" I half halfheartedly responded back, but I wasn't really worried about them. I was listening to Seth. Well, not Seth, but his mind...

_**God, she's beautiful. I wish I could just go up and grab her right now. Wish I could apologize... But I don't know what she expects me to do. I can't stand to think of her being in danger. It would kill me to not have her if something goes wrong. If she gets hurt, I swear I will kill everyone involved. I wish she would just forget the rebellion. But there's no way that will happen. What if something goes wrong?**_

_**Seth...**_

_**Stay out of my mind,**_** Syd.**

That hurt. He stood and stormed out, once again.

"OOH. Trouble in Paradise?" Travis sounded excited.

"Shut up, Travis." Jon warned.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is trouble in Paradise. Seth doesn't like the idea of me being used in the rebellion. He wants me to sit on the sidelines as far back as possible, where there is no chance I'll get hurt. So when I went against his wishes, agreed to go talk to your government about the experiment, then told him off when he tried to argue, it caused a bit of trouble."

"You stood up to Seth? Risked a huge fight with your Xanadu? To save our planet?" Travis sounded shocked.

"That's what we've been trying to tell you, Trav. She's not just some 'Earth-Tard'." Stella giggled. "This girls got some balls."

"I see." Travis looked like he was contemplating something, so I formed a connection with him and listening. Trying not to be so awkwardly obvious about it, I made a plate of food and sat eating as I listened to him talk about how maybe he'd been wrong about me. Maybe I wasn't as bad as he thought. He might have to give this Earth-Tard a chance.

Far from lifting my spirits, instead this just brought on a sick feeling in my stomach. What if Seth was wrong about me? What if I'm not really his Xanadu? Maybe the "connection" I feel is really just desperate hormones.

"No, Sydley. Seth isn't wrong about you being his Xanadu. You're making this fight feel bigger than it really is, I swear. He'll get over it, trust me. He's my brother, we've fought tons of times. He just has to have time. Don't worry so much." Sara comforted me. I don't suppose she could have said that in my mind. I don't like the idea of everyone knowing that I'm having doubts and about my insecurities. "Sorry."

Seth chose this time to walk back in to the kitchen. There was a pause among everyone, as we all stared at him, wondering what he was planning on doing.

"Syd?" He held his hand out to me. I slowly stood and grabbed on. "Let's go for a walk."

We walked hand and hand out of the house before he began speaking. There was nothing but a dirt driveway winding away through a few more sparse trees, so we walked along that.

"Syd. I'm sorry. I've been acting stupid. I knew you were going to want to help. I knew that was part of the reason for you coming up here to begin with. It's just that the thought of you being put into harms way is too much for me to bear. Yes, it sounds all lovely to think that there won't be any violence and that there won't be any fighting, but what if that's not right? What if they decide to kill you on the spot for attempting to intervene? Or if they find out that you're human and kill you? There are a million things that could go wrong with this plan, and I'm just not ready to let you walk into this with your arms wide open, just beckoning any and everything bad to happen."

"Seth, I'm not beckoning anything and everything bad to happen. It's like you said, you knew I was going to be involved in this. I just thought that you would rather me be involved in a verbal argument than to be handed a gun and told to go kill some people. This is the safest thing I could possibly do. I don't expect you not to worry about me, but I DO expect you to respect my decisions."

"I do respect your decision, I swear I do. I just wish that your decision was a safer one. Or at least that I could go in to talk to the government with you."

"Trust me, I'm not too happy about going in to do that alone, either. But it's what has to happen." We had made it to what seemed to be an abandoned road. There were no cars around, and just like the patch of trees, none of the normal sounds you normally hear coming from a road. There weren't even sounds of animals or insects. It was all so quiet. Very unnerving.

"Syd. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I acted so stupidly, I'm sorry I overreacted, I'm sorry I left you alone all night and this morning. I'm sure that wasn't nice, being left by the one who brought you to this planet, on this new place. I feel horrible. And, the fact that I've wasted a day being upset at you, I feel ashamed. Forgive me?"

"You're not the only one who needs to apologize, Seth. I should have talked to you before I just jumped into this. I should have at least warned you. It was horrible being alone last night, but as long as we're okay now, it doesn't matter. I'll forgive you if you'll forgive me."

"Of course, Syd." He pulled me into him, and gave me another taste of sugary vanilla. Oh, I love this taste. And his lips. They're so soft, but still firm. If that's even possible. And they're always warm. Warm and inviting. He pulled me back into a tree and we slid to the ground, me laying on his chest and him rubbing circles onto my back. We laid here peacefully for a while, not talking too much, but when we did it was about nothing major. What I thought of his planet. What my favorite color was. What he wanted to be when he grew up, if this rebellion hadn't taken over his life. His parents, and how his life was here before all this shit happened. Any guys I had been interested in (Only two, before Seth). Any girls he had been interested in (Only one, before me).

"What time is it?" I asked him. He put his watch up so we could read it and I saw that it read 1:42. I jumped up, shocked. "1:42? We've been out here for over three hours! We were supposed to leave at noon, Sara said!" Seth quickly jumped up and we ran back to the house, just to find everyone lounging around.

"What's going on? I thought we were leaving today?" Seth asked.

"We're not ready. We need another day to plan. We can't just go out there with a general idea of what we're going to do. We actually need to KNOW what we're going to do. Our best bet at keeping Syd as safe as possible is to have a good plan."

_**At least they're worried about her safety as much as I am. Well, maybe not as much, but at least they're worried about it.**_

I smiled at this. It was true, they did seem to be genuinely concerned at my safety. I was glad to know that I wasn't just some pawn that could be afford to taken out.

_**Of course they are, Seth. They saw what I mean to you, and they wouldn't let anything happen to me, because they know that it would hurt you. They're your friends for a reason.**_

He squeezed my hand, and kissed my temple. "Hungry?"

"Starving."

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><p><strong>I feel I may have rushed this, having them make up so quickly, but I really don't like it when they're fighting, haha. I get waaaaay too into these things. It's like they're real people or something. I'm very tempted to rewrite this chapter, and not have them make up so quickly. But then again, that requires a lot of effort, and I'm much to lazy. So, enjoy. Tralalalala. I'm in the mood for some cake. Oh, or chocolate. Or ice cream. Or just something sweet in general. OMG CHINESE FOOD.<em><br>_xoxo, moe.  
><strong>


	5. A Beautiful Girl Walking Next To Me

**Dear Anon who left me the spanish review, thank you. You made my life. And also, you're right. I did use google translate to figure out what it said, haha. I laughed so hard over that. And also thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers. You guys make me happy XD. So happy, that I got a third chapter posted. Of course, i'm kind of tired. and i took a benadryl earlier, but i'm fighting the sleep to write this, so i'm not actually sure if it makes sense or not. but. yeah. i'm going to post this now. yeah. okay. bye.**

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><p>Later that night, we were gathered in the living room. Now that Travis has decided I'm not such an Earth-Tard, he was sticking around and we were actually getting along pretty well. He was still gloomy and depressing as shit, but he was tolerable. He was also the only one of the group that still had a home to go to, besides Jon. Seth and Sara's, as well as Stevens were under watch. <strong>(AN: Holy Hufflepuff. I just realized how many "S" names I have. Seth, Sydley, Sara, Stella, Steven. Manohman. Oh Well.)** A map of The Capitol was spread out on the coffee table.

"It will take two days to get to the Capitol. When we do, we can go to our Aunt's house... Here." Seth pointed to a place in the middle of the huge city, a few blocks from Capitol Square. "She can hide us and help us. Help us with what to say, and to give Syd her best shot at being listened to. As a Capitol worker, she will be able to get us a meeting with the President and get Syd in safely."

"Good. Getting Syd in safely was one of our main concerns. Syd, when you're in there, you just have to stay calm, okay?" Jon was speaking to me softly. "Be calm, and be convincing. Show them the experiment, let them know of the other options, then just hope for the best. After you do your talking, there's nothing else you can do. After that, it's up to them."

Okay. So be calm, forget that the future of two planets is resting on my ability to be convincing and persuasive, and shut up. I can do that. I nodded.

"We've got a long time ahead of us. There's not telling what we will encounter on our trip to The Capitol." Steven reminded us. "We've best get as much sleep as possible tonight. We should leave fairly early tomorrow morning."

Travis was staying over at Jon's since we were leaving so early, and he was sharing Jon's room with Steven. Jon was staying in his parents room, apparently they were both teachers at a boarding school, and rarely came home. Seth and I would be in the room I was in last night, and Stella and Sara would be sharing another of the guest rooms. We went to our separate rooms and readied for bed. I was crawling into the bed and Seth was going to flip off the lights when there was a knock at the door, and Stella walked in.

"I just wanted to say good night, and I'm happy the two of you have worked this all out. I know this must be a rough time for the both of you right now, and fighting amongst yourselves will only make it harder. Especially being each others Xanadu." She had come over to where I was sitting up on the bed and sat beside me. She pulled me into a hug, and I allowed it. Her hug was warm and comforting. I felt her body tense up, but she didn't let go, so I didn't either. When she finally pulled away, I felt oddly violated and she had a sympathetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry. About your parents."

"How-"

"Good night, guys." And she was gone.

The fuck? How the hell did she know about my parents?

Seth flipped the lights off and we slid into the bed.

"Her powers. She can see your past through touch."

Oh! I'd forgotten. I was a bit upset that she had done that without asking, but what could I do? She can't unsee what he saw.

"How are you holding up? Still doing good? Do you need a sleeping pill?"

"No, I'll be fine with you here." I smiled into the darkness, and felt his arm tighten around my waist. "And yeah, I'm great. This feels so much like Earth, it's not even bothering me. How are **YOU** holding up?"

"Honestly? I'm scared out of my mind. If ANYTHING happens to you-"

"Seth. Stop worrying about me! I'm going to be **FINE**. I'm more worried about what will happen if this doesn't work."

"Yes, but I've noticed you have no self-endangerment alarm. You never seem to worry about yourself and the danger you're getting into."

I knew that there was no point in arguing, so I did what any girl does to end an argument. I leaned over on top of him and pressed my lips to his. This kiss was unlike any other he and I had shared before. I could feel the passion, the desire. The want. The love. The tenderness of his hand sliding from my cheek to my neck, pulling me in closer. As close as possible. His warm breath against my face when we finally broke apart and lay, face to face, wrapped up in blankets and each others arms.

There was no silence that night. Our hearts were beating loudly, making a song of their own. I fell asleep, listening to that song. Perfectly at peace.

I woke up the next morning to Sara and Steven, standing over the bed, smiling creepily.

"Guys?"

"You two are just so cute!" Sara squealed.

"Even I have to admit, you're pretty adorable." Steven laughed.

"Shut up." I stuck my tongue out at them. I felt Seth stirring under me.

"What's going on?" He asked as he kissed my temple.

"Oh, not much. Just Sara and Steven being complete creepers and watching us sleep!" I teased.

"Guys... C'mon. That's weird." He laughed.

"Oh, we were only watching for a few minutes. We just came in here to wake you guys, and decided we just couldn't."

"Well, at least our adorable-ness got us a few extra minutes of sleep!" Seth and I crawled out of the bed and went downstairs, where everyone else was already awake.

"Bout time you two got up. What, did you two keep each other up all night last night? Do we need to keep you in separate rooms? Were you safe?" Stella joked. I laughed, hoping everyone didn't seriously think we had sex. Not that the idea of sex with Seth repulses me, just the fact that we had only met a few days ago... And we were in a strangers house... and I just didn't want everyone having that idea about me.

"Shut it, Stell." Seth threw an apple at her, that she caught and bit into, sticking her tongue out.

"Alright, guys." Jon walked in. "Are we about ready to leave?"

There were nods around the kitchen. I went into the living room with everyone else, where I saw that, while Seth and I had been asleep, they had been working on packing bags for everyone.

"Clothes. Food. Flashlights. A tent. Matches. Protection. Everything we might need." Jon passed a bag to everyone. "Alright guys, let's go."

We walked out through the front door, and began down the driveway to the road Seth and I had walked to the day before. I looked back at the beautiful house. It really was quite homey. I'd miss the feeling of safety and home that I got from it. But we were on to try and save some planets! Seth grabbed my hand, and I held on tightly as the realization that this battle, the one that I had thought was won just from retrieving the experiment, was far from over hit me. But I had faith that everything would be okay. After all, if I keep telling Seth not to worry, how could I?

The road was still as deserted today as it was yesterday.

"Does no one drive this road?" I asked.

"Oh, no. Not anymore. Cars were made illegal when the government realized how harmful they were to the atmosphere. Thought that just cutting out cars would make it better. Obviously, it didn't. That nasty smell? Kubla Khan didn't used to smell like that. It used to smell amazing, like summer. Until everything died." Stella explained. "We're not likely to run into very many people along the trip."

"I wouldn't say that." Travis warned. "Driving has been made illegal, but there are still trackers out."

"Trackers?"

"Capitol workers. They roam around the islands, looking for anyone who might be breaking the rules. It's not just driving that's illegal. Certain fire-objects are illegal, hunting is illegal, with the way that everything is dying, they want to be sure to keep the food for themselves, and sell whatever they don't want to us at outrageous prices, traveling without documentation, like we're doing is illegal, because they don't want people staging uprisings. We're likely to run into a few of them. And it's not really the trackers or people that I'm worried about."

"What are you worried about?"

"The beasts. The Capitol began experimenting centuries ago, trying to create robots or slaves or something, no one knows exactly what they were going for. But at any rate, they messed up. A lot. And when they messed up, they just dumped the beasts off on a random island, and left them to do whatever they might. Some died off, but many adapted, and bred. Some are harmless, no more danger than a stray dog, some are actually good, and are nice protection to have around. But there are also some that will kill you the minute they see you."

"Trav. How about we not talk about that, eh? Not this early on, especially." Steven stopped him. But I wanted to know more.

"What kind of beasts are around here?"

"Well, we've seen a few chupacabras. They eat goats. Don't really eat them, but they suck the blood and leave their empty bodies laying around. They don't normally harm people, but there's always a chance, I suppose."

"Ooh, and there's the Ninetails." Stella added. "It's a beautiful dog like creature with pure white fur and nine tails, which is where it gets its name from. They're gentle when undisturbed, but when they get scared, they burst into flames and attack anything that isn't familiar to them. They're my favorite. I ran across one once, while I was walking in the woods. Maggie, I called her. I took her home and tried to keep her as a pet. I begged for days, but eventually my parents won out, and I had to let her go. They were afraid that she would get scared one day, whether it was from a thunderstorm or visitors or just a creature in the woods, and burst into flames, burning our house down. Kind of ironic, isn't it? I couldn't keep Maggie, because they were afraid she would burn our house down, and in the end, it wasn't her at all, but the house was still burnt down. Maybe if they had let us keep her, she could have scared off whoever set the house on fire."

"Yes, Ninetails are nice, but it still would be bad if we ran across a pack and scared them. We have to watch out everywhere."

It was interesting, hearing about their planet. The experiments from the government, the laws, and how life used to be before everything turned to shit and died. I learned that Jon's parents taught at a school that kind of reminded me of the school in X-Men. They had classes that they thought everyone needed, Math's and Sciences and Histories, but they also had classes just for your powers. You could learn how to use them, make them stronger. It was kind of tripping me out, how similar our two planets were. There's just no way that Earth and Kubla Khan were this much alike, is there?

Hours passed, they told me about their planet and asked me about mine. They were all very interested, having only heard what the Capitol wanted them to hear. We were walking at a decent pace, not running but not just moseying along either. We were making good time. Around three, we stopped and ate a quick lunch before we were on our way again. I was disappointed that we hadn't seen anything that they had mentioned to me earlier. No trackers, no experiments. The conversation was nice, but this had been an uneventful trip so far. More time was passed, we had gone across two islands with no problems, and as it started to get dark, Travis decided to tell ghost stories. Alright, if we couldn't have real action, then ghost stories are the next best thing, right?

"We're coming up on the island of Sander next. It's supposed to be the most haunted island on the planet. They say that there's one part of the woods, a part that we will be heading straight through, that once you go in, you're lucky if you get out. The woods are haunted by a trio, two young girls and a young guy. Around our age, maybe a year or two older. There were four of them, one more guy, and they were walking, trying to find a supposed witches house out in the middle of the woods when they disappeared. Legend had it, only a few can find the witches house. She chooses her victims. And if you find her house, you don't come back. She keeps you there, not in body, but in soul. Forced forever to roam the woods, attempting to lure her next unlucky victims in. These kids were just so lucky enough to be her next victims. They were lured to her house by a child, appearing to be twelve or so in age. Said that his mom had fallen sick, and he needed their help. They were only trying to be good people. When they got to the house and walked in the door, it slammed shut. They hadn't thought to question the house alone in the middle of the haunted woods until the slamming of the door. That's when they realized that they had found it, the witches house. The boy disappeared as a woman came into the kitchen, smiling. Only, she wasn't a woman. She was beautiful. She was seductive, and she was hungry. Hungry for the mind, body and souls of these four kids.

The first to go was the guy. He thought he could fight her. She quickly cast his lifeless body to the side, already feeling it's energy seeping into hers. She would come back to it when the others were taken care of. Distraught, the boys Xanadu ran to his body, where she was also taken care of. The other two, the girls sister and her boyfriend, ran. They escaped the house and were out in the woods in no time. But it was dark. They were turned around, not sure of which way they came, which way they were going. The witch, however, knew these woods. These were her home. And she found them in no time. She had a taste for girls, their beauty made her more beautiful, so she naturally went after the girl first. But this girl was a fighter. She fought tooth and nail, and used her flame powers to temporarily fight the witch. But her powers were no match for the old hag. In no time, she was weak, out of power.

Her boyfriend had ran for it. He knew there was no point in trying to save her, so he made a decision not many could make. He made a decision that would haunt him until the day that he died. He made it to town eventually, and told his story. How they were simply looking for fun, when three of them ended up dying. How they had fought, but in the end, the witch won out. How he had abandoned his love to suffer the witches mercy alone. He went off, became a hermit on the outskirts of the haunted woods. Rumor has it, if you're in the haunted woods after dark and you hear a young girls voice calling out, 'Samuel! Samuel, come back!', then it's already too late. You're as good as dead. The abandoned girl still roams the woods, searching for her lover that left her to die. If she comes across a couple, she kills only the girl, forcing the male to spend his life in misery, forever guilty over the fact that he couldn't protect his love."

There was a silence, and Seth's grip on my waist was only getting tighter every second.

"Bull shit." Steven laughed. I couldn't tell if he really found it to be bull, or if he was just trying to ease the feeling of unease that had taken over.

"No, I swear. If you don't believe it, why don't we just keep on going, and go camp in those woods? They're some of the few woods that haven't died out yet."

"NO!" Sara, Stella and I all shouted.

Travis laughed. "That's what I thought."

"Scared?" Seth whispered, teasingly into my ear.

"Yes, actually. I'm a very firm believer in ghosts. Always have been. And now that I know that there is life on other planets, my belief in ghosts has just been solidified. I'd rather not die, thanks. Unless, of course, that's what YOU want. Let the girl kill me, then you'll be free of me, forced to live your life forever regretting your inability to save me."

"Never." Seth growled. "Don't even joke about that. If you die, then I'm as good as dead. I'll have no life without you."

Gah, he's so damn mushy. But it still makes my heart skip a beat or five every time he says something like that.

"It's getting pretty late, guys. Why don't we camp out here?" Jon suggested. "We're not close to the haunted woods, girls. So don't worry about that." He joked. We found a pretty thick patch of trees with a small clearing in the middle and set up our two tents, with a small fire between them. Travis, Jon and Steven would be in one tent, while Seth, Sara, Stella and myself would be in the other. While the guys had set the tents up, Stella, Sara and I had gathered the rocks to make the outside of the fire ring as well as the starter branches and some larger branches for burning. We had a fire going in no time. Jon brought out hot dogs, and we all roasted a few. This was my first camping trip. I hoped it wouldn't be my last. It was nice, just being outside.

The ghost stories continued, with Travis being the main contributor, but Steven and Seth both throwing a few in there. The stories were all pretty convincing and could all easily be true, but with Seth by my side I felt no fear. How could I, with his arms wrapped around me, pulling me into that weird position where you're not sitting, but you're not laying, and you're amazingly comfortable? There's nothing to fear. I have my Xanadu.

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><p><strong>maybe i shouldn't write under the influence of benadryl anymore.<strong>


	6. Let's Just Take Tonight, Tonight Slow

**Er. Yeah. Here we go XD.**

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><p>I had my Xanadu.<p>

We finally went to sleep in our seperate tents. Seth and I cuddled up in his sleeping bag, which were really quite comfortable. It had a built in pillow and was lined in something that kept in the cool and heat both, so even though the day its self had been pretty warm and the night had gotten cooler, the sleeping bag was the perfect temperature. I was between Seth and Stella, feeling very safe. I had a feeling that Stella, like Seth, may look weak but could actually kick some ass if it was needed. I was quick to fall asleep, but between the perfect temperature, tiredness from walking all day, feeling of safety, and Seth rubbing relaxing circles into my shoulders, I really didn't have a choice.

It seemed like I had been sleeping all day when I felt Seth shoot up in the sleeping bag.

"Seth? What the hell?" I whispered, trying not to wake the others.

"Sshh." He shushed me, quietly. This is weird. I looked over and saw Sara and Stella were both also awake, looking at Seth with faces that I'm sure reflected my own. What the hell is going on?

Seth quickly stood and phased his head part of the way through the tent, then the rest of his body. I heard him walking over to the other tent and I'm guessing he phased in judging by the fact that I didn't hear the tent un-zip but I did hear the boys talking.

Stella stood and zipped the tent open as quietly as possible, but if you've ever tried to un-zip a tent quietly, you should know that that's not possible. It's like the tent realizes what you're trying to do and decides to be as loud as possible. She, Sara and I all cringed at the noise. When we stuck our head out of the tent, I saw nothing out of the ordinary that would have caused Seth to act this way. We all pulled back in and zipped the tent as quietly as possible (still wasn't quiet), and huddled in the middle of the tent.

"What do you think's going on?" I asked quietly.

"No idea. He's your boyfriend." Stella joked.

"He's your brother." I turned the attention to Sara.

"I'm trying to read his mind, but I can't. You try, Syd."

So I did. I imagined the link between he and I, coursing from our tent over to the guys tent. Imagined his thoughts flowing into my head.

**WHY THE HELL AREN'T THEY LISTENING TO ME? I KNOW I HEARD SOMETHING. I SWEAR, IF ANYONE GETS HURT BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO TIRED AND THICK TO LISTEN, I'LL KILL THEM! ESPECIALLY IF SYD GETS HURT. DAMN LAZY ASSES.**

"He heard something. But the guy won't wake up. He's worried someones going to get hurt, but they won't even listen to him." I reported.

"Heard what?" Stella asked, sounding nervous.

"He didn't say."

But he didn't have to say, because he was back. And he looked furious.

"What's going on, Seth?" Sara asked.

"Nothing, guys. Just my paranoia, more than likely. Go back to sleep. We have a lot of walking to do tomorrow."

**You know it wasn't just his imagination. But he's more likely to talk to you than one of us. **

**I'll see what I can do.**

The other two crawled back into their sleeping bags. Seth was sitting in front of the unzipped door. I slipped up behind him, slipped my arms around his waist and laid my head over his shoulder.

"What did you hear?"

He grimaced. "Nothing, Syd. Just go get some sleep."

"Nothing? Really?"

"Really."

oh, boy. He was lying. I KNEW it. There's no way he hadn't heard anything. If he hadn't heard anything, everyone would still be nustled into their sleeping bags, sound asleep. The fastest way to piss me off is to lie to me. I withdrew my hands from around his waist, crawled back into our sleeping bag, and fell asleep without another word being whispered. I'm not sure if he ever came back to the bag. If he did, he didn't wake me. The next thing I remember is him placing kisses around my chin the next morning, whispering "wake up" in between the kisses.

I opened my eyes and pulled away, climbing out of the bag and escaping out of the tent into the open air where the others were slowly waking up. I don't forgive liars over a few sweet kisses.

"You look pissed, Princess." Travis noted. "What's up?"

"Nothing's wrong. Just still asleep." I lied. Does that make me a hypocrite?

"Just asleep?" Jon laughed. "I've seen you when you've just woken up. And I've seen you when you're pissed. I can tell the difference. And you're pissed."

I didn't really want to make a big deal about it. Seth had woken Sara and Stella and they had now climbed out of the tent, Seth looking confused as Hell and Sara looking worried. Stella was just stumbling around, basically a zombie. I took a little walk off in the woods with Jon and Travis.

"What did Seth say to you guys when he came in your tent last night?" I asked.

"Seth came in our tent last night?" Travis seemed genuinely shocked.

"Shit, you mean that was _real_? I thought I had dreamed it!"

"No. We were asleep and Seth just shot up out of the sleeping bag, told us all to be quiet, and phased out of the tent. We heard him trying to talk to you guys, then he phased back into the tent and just sat at the open door all night. He told me he didn't hear anything, which was a lie, and I didn't feel him come back to bed."

"He said he heard stuff walking around and he thought he heard voices. I swear, I thought I was dreaming. Otherwise, I would have at least investigated it." Jon sounded ashamed.

"He lied. He told me that he just imagined it. How can I trust him if he won't even tell me what's going on?"

"C'mon, Syd. He didn't lie, exactly. He just didn't want you to worry."

"If there's something creeping around our camp, I want to know. I want to be alert. Lying never does anything but get people hurt. I've been lied to far too many times to 'protect me', and all it did was get people killed. Like my parents, for instance."

"Don't worry about it. He didn't mean to anger or hurt you." Travis was trying to smooth it over, but no. I don't like being lied to. I can't STAND being lied to.

"Whatever." I walked back to the camp and heard them walking behind me. They went over to talk to Seth, who was already talking to Steven.

"You okay?" Sara asked.

"No. You heard him. He wouldn't say what happened. Just told me nothing was going on and to go back to sleep. He lied to me."

Sara and Stella just nodded. It seemed that they, at least, understood my hatred for being lied to. We packed up the tents, ate a quick breakfast, and then headed off. I made sure to keep my distance from Seth. I just felt like I couldn't trust him. Maybe I was over-reacting. Maybe he had done it to protect me, maybe it hadn't been THAT big of a lie. But it was still a lie.

Instead, I walked between Steven and Travis, both of whom were actually hilarious. Hearing stories of all the troubles they had caused in school, pranks they had pulled, times they had run from the law... I could see why these guys were friends. They were a hoot and I had a stitch in my side that had nothing to do with the fact that we had been walking for a while.

Then we were surrounded. One minute we had been walking, Jon and Seth in the lead, Sara and Stella a step in front of us, sometimes taking part of our conversation and sometimes holding their own, and the three of us in the back, the next there were suits all around us.

"Trackers!" I heard Steven whisper. Trackers? What was a tracker? It sounded familiar, and I searched my brain for what it could mean. Then I remembered. Government workers. Searched the woods and islands for rule-breakers. And while we looked innocent enough, our large packs were evidence that we were traveling, and traveling for no reason was illegal. We did have a reason, but I think that reason would be worse than having no reason at all.

"Afternoon, gentlemen." Jon sounded so grown and official.

"Where are you guys headed?" The head suit asked. No nonsense.

"Just out for a hike. Camping along the way, exploring."

"Unnecessary travel is illegal. Where do you come from?"

"Cisco."

"A bit out of your area, aren't you? Where are you headed?"

"We were going to the Capitol. We've never been, and thought it might be interesting to see."

"And your parents?" Although Jon's reasons sounded good to me, the Head Suit didn't sound appeased. He sounded suspicious.

"Ahhh. Well, they're at home. Thought we'd be well enough to go on this journey alone."

"There's been a lot of talk about rebellion. Stories of kids going against the government. You guys wouldn't happen to be a part of this rebellion, would you?"

"Course not. What reason do we have to rebel?"

The Head Suit pulled out a device. "Let me get your name."

Jon threw out his name, and while the Head was putting it into the device, I took my chance of taking my eyes off of him to look at the other suits. They looked like the bloody Men in Black. We were even in numbers, but they had weapons. Lethal looking guns.

"Son of two school teachers. Good grades. No criminal record. What about you?" He turned to Seth. If Seth gave him his name, he would look him up and find that he was the son of two scientists, imprisoned for their research against the government. Which would be a reason to rebel. Shit.

"Uh." Then he lunged for the Head. Two of the guys attempted to grab him, while two others shot at him, but it had no affect. He allowed the hands and bullets to phase through him, and quickly had the Head knocked unconscious on the ground. Jon took out the two who had shot at him, banging their heads together. Travis pushed me, Stella and Sara away from the group and the rest of them quickly took out the group. Sara had used her powers to either jam their guns or rip them from their hands, so they had a fair, hand-to-hand combat.

Jon yanked the device from the Heads hands and we all gathered the guns from the unconscious trackers. We were now armed and running on adrenaline. Our adrenaline allowed us to run about two miles before we finally slowed, then stopped for a lunch.

Travis had been talking about how "Awesome" that had been. I get the feeling that he didn't get into very many fights, and I have to admit that I myself found that pretty damn great. Even if I hadn't exactly been involved, it as empowering to know that our group had taken on a group of trackers and won. If we could win this battle, then maybe we can win the big battle, although, when I say the big battle, it is CONSIDERABLY bigger. But we finally had something that had been rather evading before.

Hope.

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><p><strong>Eh, not that great of a chapter, but it's been a while since I posted so I figure something is better than nothing. But on the plus side, my Godchild's birth date was moved up to June 7th! Apparently, she was two weeks farther along than we thought! Yay!<strong>


	7. I Wanna See Where This, Where This Goes

**This chapter is short, short, short! But I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be super long and eventful. Or... Maybe not. I'm not sure yet. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. So... Yeah. Here's... Yeah.**

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><p><em>Hope.<em>

"Sydley?" I heard his voice behind me as I stood, staring into the woods, waiting for some stranage animal that I had never seen before to come traipsing by. But that didn't happen. There were very few animals left around here. Most had starved or gotten sick from the pollution, I suppose. I felt his hands on my waist, keeping me in place in case I had been planning on running away. Which I had considered.

"What, Seth?"

"What's wrong?" He came to stand in front of me.

"Nothing." I threw his answer from last night back into his face.

"Nothing? Really?" He sounded sarcastic. I understood the sound, because it was exactly what I had said last night.

"Really."

He rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Syd. Tell me. What's going on? Something is obviously wrong. You haven't talked to me or let me touch you or even looked at me all day. When those trackers surrounded us, I looked for you to come by my side, but you didn't."

"You want me to tell you what's wrong with me? Kind of how you WOULDN'T tell me what was wrong with you last night? When you were obviously worried out of your mind? So much that you didn't even come back to sleep?"

"Is that what this is about? Really? Because I didn't want to scare you by telling you that I thought I heard stuff outside of the tent? I stayed up to make sure everything was going to be okay? That's why you're mad?"

"Yes, Seth. That's why I'm mad. You lied. You told me nothing was wrong. But there was something wrong. You heard something, and instead of telling us about it, you lied to us, telling us it was just your imagination. I don't like being lied to, no matter how small of a lie it is. How can you have trust if you know that someone is going to lie to you about something as trifle as hearing noises outside of the tent? I'm tired of being lied to. I really, really am."

"That's just stupid." He could tell by the look on my face that that was the wrong thing to say. Don't call me stupid. "Syd." I turned and walked away, back to the group that was unusually silent. I had a feeling they had been eavesdropping. "Syd! Wait, I didn't mean that YOU were stupid. Just that to be mad ov-"

"Save it, Seth." I wasn't in the mood for I'm sorry and making up right now. I was even more pissed than I was before. "How far from the Capitol are we?"

"Actually, we're not that far. It's about eight more hours, given our pace. We've been moving faster than we had originally anticipated." Jon informed the group. He and Stella were cooking hot dogs over a small fire, Steven, Travis and Sara were resting around them and Seth had gone off to the woods, probably to punch some holes through some trees. I joined the guys on the ground. "So, what's going on between you guys?"

"You know what's going on. He lied to me."

"Sydley, we have a big mission ahead of us. The last thing we need is for the two of you to be distracted by a little fight between you guys. We need you both focused."

"I'm focused. If you haven't noticed, Jon, I've been getting on just fine." I snapped, ending the conversation. Saying it out loud made me realize that it was true. I had been getting on perfectly fine without Seth by my side. Why is this? If he is my Xanadu, my soul mate, should I not need him with me? Need us to be okay with each other? Why am I able to be perfectly fine talking to all these people while I'm currently pissed the fuck off at the one person who I'm supposed to never want to be without? Maybe we're not soul mates. Maybe we're just teenagers.

Somehow, I found myself spending more and more time with Travis as we were walking. I liked Travis. He made me laugh. It was hard to believe that HE'S the one that is managing to make me happiest, considering he hated me just a few days ago. Hated me for being an Earth-tard. This is a fact that we laugh about frequently as we're trudging along. We set up camp in a dying field, only about three hours from the Capitol. I'm glad we stopped. I was really worried that Jon would suggest we keep walking, just go ahead and get there. I was tired. Also, the closer and closer it got to D-Day, the more and more nervous I got.

All throughout the night, I noticed Seth. Sitting off in a corner, throwing daggers at Travis and I, talking and laughing. Me teaching Earth songs to the group, the group teaching Kubla Khan songs to me. They really weren't all that different. Appealing to younger children, but you realize how morbid and perverse they are when you're older. More ghost stories. More trouble stories. The whole time, Seth is just off by himself, looking like the angriest, most lost puppy in the world. I just wanted to walk over to him. Kiss him, and tell him everything's okay. But no. I was pissed at him, I had to keep reminding myself. I'm not letting him off the hook that easily.

"He did try and apologize." Travis whispered in my ear.

"Really? Calling me stupid is how he apologizes?" I whispered back. For some reason, I didn't want everyone hearing our conversation. I just wanted something private. Some advice without feeling the whole groups judgement. Not that I felt judged... I guess there just hadn't been any privacy in the past few days, and it's something I wasn't used to. Not anymore.

"He didn't mean it, Syd. You guys... You're meant to be together. You're Xanadu's. You'll test each other, you'll fight with each other, you'll hate each other, but you'll always love each other. You'll always care, and want to be with the other person. You'll always end up together. No matter what you do, you can't fight fate. The two of you are meant to be together. Hell, you are together, even if you're being a stubborn little Earth-tard. He didn't mean that you're stupid. He's just... Never had a girlfriend before. Not a serious one. He doesn't know how to act, or what's okay and what's not okay. He was trying to protect you and not worry you when he didn't tell you. He wasn't lying to be a jerk."

"Travis... he..." He what? He wasn't doing it to be mean. He wasn't doing it because he wanted to piss me off. I have to admit, even I think it's a little stupid, now that I think about it. I caused all this trouble and all these fights between us, just because I don't like being lied to. But he hadn't exactly lied. He just hadn't exactly told the truth. "You're right."

He got a smug look on his face. "I'm always right, love." He playfully nicked my chin with his fist. "Go, talk to him, make things right."

I threw my arms around him. I was just thankful to have someone's unbiased opinion. I love Sara, but Seth is her brother and has been there since the beginning of the two of us. So she's pretty biased. But Travis wasn't. He was something else.

I went over to Seth, not sure of what I was going to say, but hoping that whatever it was would be enough.

"Look, Seth. I'm sorry. You're right. It was stupid. I've been so emotional lately, I don't know what got into me. I _know_ you didn't lie to be a jerk. I'm just... I'm so sorry, Seth."

"Sorry? You're _sorry_? I've been sitting here the whole night, watching my Xanadu and my friend laugh and hug and flirt and whisper into each others' ears, and all you can say is you're SORRY?"

"Wha- Seth! What're yo-"

"What am I talking about? I'm talking about the fact that you've been all over each other! Like I don't even exist! YOU THINK I DIDN'T SEE HIM WHISPERING IN YOUR EAR? THE SMILE ON YOUR FACE? THAT HUG? What the hell's going on between you two?"

He was yelling at me. I don't like it when people yell at me. I don't like it at all. But I don't yell back. Instead, I whisper. The deadliest whisper you can imagine? Yeah, that's not even deadly enough.

"What's going on between us? I'll tell you what's going on between us, _Seth_. He's been keeping me distracted, because I've been so upset. So upset that you think that me being upset is stupid. Yes, I admit that it was stupid, but at the time, I didn't. I was _hurt, _Seth. And he made me feel better. Those whispers? We were talking about YOU. You and I. That hug? Was a thank you. For being a friend. For helping me realize that you're my Xanadu, and we're meant for each other, and that no matter how much you piss me off, I still love you."

Silence.

Was he going to yell again? Or hit me? Or... Oh, God. He's coming at me. I closed my eyes and braced for impact, to be thrown to the ground or beat to a pulp or something. Instead, he stopped just short.

"Why are you flinching?" He sounded genuinely confused.

"I... thought you might have snapped. You were going to lose your temper and hit me or something." He looked hurt.

"Sydley, I have a bad temper, yes. I hit trees and throw cars. But I will never hurt you. I could never hurt you. Because I love you." He wrapped me into his arms and pulled me in. "I'm sorry. I can see now, he was just being a friend. I shouldn't have doubted you. It just hurt seeing you be happy with another guy. I guess I'm the jealous type, huh?"

"Obviously." I smiled into his chest, then pulled up to kiss him.

"I just, I love you, Syd. I don't want to lose you."

"I love you, Seth." My heart flipped about twenty times at hearing him say he loved me, but I somehow managed that reply. "You could never lose me. You're stuck with me."

"Hm. I think I can handle this."

We walked back to the group, hand in hand.

"Aweee, the love birds have made uuup!" Jon somewhat teased. I stuck my tongue out, and joined the group in laughing. Until I heard the barking.


	8. I Need You

**This is a really short chapter. I know I said that this one would be long, but I lied. My bad. But I am thinking about writing a Hunger Games ff. (team Cato, of course!) I just can't decide if I want to get this completely finished first, or if I should go ahead and start it. Ideas? And thanks for such great reviews, you guys. It really means a lot to me! I just hate it when you get a really amazing review and it's someone who isn't logged in and you can't message them DX Sad day. I love you guys!**

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><p>Until I heard the barking.<p>

It started off pretty far away, nothing too alarming. Then I realized it was coming our way.

"Guys?"

"I hear it." Seth muttered, squeezing my hand tightly, then standing up. "We need to get out of the middle of this field. We're sitting ducks."

"Where do you expect us to go, Seth? There's nowhere to hide."

"The trees!" Stella yelled. There was a small patch of trees about fifty yards away. They were our only hope. We stood and ran for the trees, no time to grab or worry about anything else besides us getting to safety. As we reached the patch, I registered that the barking was far too close for comfort. I turned just in time to see the "dogs" bust onto the field. But they weren't dogs. They were... beasts. Six feet tall and at least eight feet long, with razor sharp fangs that I could see from across the field, even in the dark. These beasts were savage, they were out to kill, and they weren't slowing down.

"They're here!"

When we reached the trees, we split quickly. We couldn't all fit on one tree. Stella, Sara and Steven quickly scaled one tree, Jon was ten feet up another in a matter of seconds. Travis was on a low branch, holding his hand out for me. I reached up to take it, but I couldn't help myself. I had to look again. I wish I hadn't. They were HERE. Ten feet away. Two bounds, if even that.

"Seth!"

He turned and braced just as the closest beast lunged at him, but it just hit him and crumpled to the ground. But that didn't matter. There were still dozens of these beasts surrounding us.

"Go, Syd!"

But I was frozen. I couldn't move. Travis reached down and grabbed my hand, pulling me up. As he did, one of beasts bit into my side. I felt his razor sharp fangs sliding into me, and it felt like he ripped my body in half.

"SHIIIT!" Oh, God. It hurt so bad. So fucking bad. I didn't want to move. But I had to get Seth. "SETH?"

"I'm alright! I'm fine! Get higher up, Syd! NOW!"

"No, Seth! Just come on! Please!"

"Travis, get her higher up!"

"C'mon! You're hurt! Bad! Being down here won't do any good!" He went to go pick me up, but I shot him one of my glares.

"Fucking touch me. I dare you. I'm not going anywhere without Seth. If he wants to stay down there and die, then I'll just stay right here."

"Syd. He's not going to die. He's fucking invincible, remember? Did you not just see what happened to that Brax that lunged at him?"

"No. I'm not leaving." I didn't want to leave Seth. Plus, I didn't think that I COULD move, even if I wanted to. It hurt. Oh, God. It hurt. So fucking bad.

"Seth, she won't go without you."

"Damn it, Syd! Just go!"

"Syd!" I heard Sara's voice from the tree beside me. "Syd, Seth will be fine! But if you don't get higher up in the tree, he will be so worried about you, he might get distracted! If you want Seth to be okay, go higher!"

"Fine. Fine! Only, I can't fucking move because I have half of my side missing!"

"What?"

"Brax got her. I'll get her up." Travis told her. "Syd, I'm going to need you to put your hands around me, okay? I know it's going to hurt, but I have to get you higher!"

"Fine." I lifted my hands up and wrapped them around his neck/shoulders. Going to hurt? Hell yeah. I felt like my body was on fire, being ripped and torn, stabbed and prodded all at once. "Just hurry!"

We got a few more limbs up before he stopped, laying me in a fork in the tree. "Let me look, okay?"

"I don't fucking care what you do."

"Grrr. Not very friendly when we're in pain, are we?"

"... Sorry. I just want Seth up here."

Travis looked over the side and reported back to me, "He's good. He's perfectly fine. There's about five or six Brax's left, then he'll be up here." Then he lifted my shirt.

And vomited, right over the side of the tree.

"That bad?"

"It's not pretty. It took off a good chunk of your skin. And side. You shouldn't move. Just... don't move." He put my shirt down.

"Ha, I feel like I'm going to vomit every time I even think about moving."

"Just... Don't move... Keep breathing."

"I'm breathing. I'm not moving."

"Jon, we're going to need you over here as soon as possible."

"How is it?" I heard Sara ask.

"Not good."

I felt the tree shaking as Seth climbed up to the fork we were laying on.

"Is she okay?"

"No... She's hurt. Bad. Lift her shirt."

Seth carefully walked over to where I was laying and bent down to me.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, swiping my hair out of my eyes and kissing my forehead.

"Like death warmed over."

"I'm just going to lift your shirt, okay?"

"Kay."

I was feeling weak. I just wanted to go to sleep. The fire in my body had almost become numb until Seth lifted my shirt. I felt it coursing through my body like a brand new fire the second he did. "God, Syd. I can't believe I let this happen to you."

"Don't blame yourself, silly boy. I chose to stop and stare. It's not your fault."

"I should have protected you."

"From all sides? You can't be everywhere at once, Seth."

"Sara. Can you lift her to the ground?"

"I can try. But... I've never lifted something so large."

"Is that a fat joke?"

"Just be careful."

They were ignoring me now, all of my comments. I suppose they weren't exactly making much sense. But it made sense to me. At the time. Sara did lift me to the ground. It was such a weird feeling. I was flying. I think I made some Peter Pan and Tinkerbell comments, but I was ignored still. Jon came over and lifted my shirt.

"Can you fix me, doc?"

"Shhh, Syd. Save your energy." He whispered. My body had gone numb after the raging fire of Seth lifting my shirt, and I didn't even feel it when I saw him put his hand on me. I hadn't taken the plunge and actually looked at myself yet, but I'm not sure I could have handled it.

"Just go to sleep, Syd." Seth comforted me. We were still laying under the trees with Stella, Steven and Sara taking watch. Seth was holding my hand and letting my head rest in his lap. Travis was on my other side, holding my other hand.

"You're not supposed to sleep when you get a boo boo. You could go into a coma."

"Syd, this is different. Just go to sleep. You'll be all better when you wake up." Travis promised. "Jon can't fix you while you're awake."

"Seth?"

"I'm not going to leave your side, Sydley." He promised.

"I love you, silly boy."

"I love you, Sydley." He kissed my forehead and I allowed myself to drift off to the unconsciousness that had been beckoning me for so long, but I had been restraining myself from dropping in to.

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><p><strong>DUN DUN DUUUUN! How much would you guys hate me if Jon couldn't save Syd and she died?<strong>


	9. I'd Give You Today But It's Not Mine Yet

**Total filler chapter. Nothing really important. I'm kind of ashamed for even posting this, but 1. I haven't posted in a while and 2. I thought you guys might like to know...**

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><p>When my eyes opened, I was aware that I was in a tent and I wasn't alone. It took me a minute to remember what had happened. A beast... Brax? I think they had called it? Had attacked me, ripping off half of my side. I felt pain, not quite vomit inducing, but close, and I also felt fatigue. I sat up and realized that Seth was laying beside me, asleep. I wanted to stand and leave the tent, but I wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Just moving to sit up had felt like a million little knives stabbing my stomach. I lifted my shirt and saw the ugly marks, marks that would likely leave permanent scars, and just wanted to cry. I crawled my way to the opening of the tent, unzipped it and went outside.<p>

"Syd? You shouldn't be moving around." Travis came to where I was crawling out of the tent and helped move me to my feet. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. Alive, at least. Don't we need to be moving? We're wasting time, just staying in the field. What time is it?"

"About eleven. We can't move, not yet. You need to get better before we move."

"I'm fine! We're not far from the Capitol, I thought. Why don't we just go ahead and get there?"

"Because, you need to rest, Syd. Moving around will only prolong your healing. I did the best I could, but your injuries were considerably numerous." Jon informed me as he walked over to us, with the rest following in his footsteps.

"Guys, I'm fine. Really." I argued, but they all just brushed me off.

Sara ran over and threw her arms around me. "Sydley, I'm just glad you're okay. When I saw all the blood that was pouring out of you, and how much pain you were in... I wasn't sure if Jon would be able to fix you! I was so scared for you. Especially when I heard the nonsense you were talking!"

"Nope, he did a great job. I feel better than ever!" I lied, hugging her back. "When can we get to moving? I don't like still being in this open field." That wasn't a lie. I felt too exposed.

"If you're really feeling better... We can pack up the stuff and leave whenever. But if you start feeling weak or are in too much pain, then you have to tell us so we can stop. Promise?"

"Promise."

I heard Seth stirring in the tent, and seconds later he was out, by my side.

"Sydley." He breathed. I just smiled.

"Good morning, sleepy head."

"Sydley... I thought... I thought you were going to die! You were screaming and bleeding so bad. And nothing you were saying was making any sense! I don't think I've ever been that scared before. I thought I was going to lose you! I-"

"Hey." I cut him off and pressed my lips against his, relishing the sugary vanilla taste. "What did I tell you? You're stuck with me."

"We're packing up and leaving soon." Jon told Seth.

"What? She can't be moving around! What if something else attacks us? She needs rest to get better!" He wasn't happy about this.

"Seth, I. Am. Fine. I promise. I just want to get to the Capitol."

"Fine." I could tell he still wasn't happy, but had chosen to just shut up, knowing that he was fighting a losing battle. The others went around, picking stuff up and packing, but Seth and I sat a little off to the side.

"Sydley, when I thought I was going to lose you... That was one of the worst times of my life. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you. I'd considered just finding some more beasts and throwing myself to them, but... I couldn't do that. Not while there was still a chance you'd be okay."

"Are you serious? Seth, I don't care what happens to me, you should never consider just letting yourself be chewed to bits or whatever by anything. If something happens to me, you have to keep on living. You do realize that, right? You still have your parents, and Sara, and your friends, and a mission. Even after this mission, you'll always have a reason to keep on going. I never want to hear you think or say anything like that. Never. I don't even want to think of a world that doesn't have you in it. That would just be unfair to everyone else."

"You are my reason to life. Just you."

"You were doing just fine before you met me, Seth. You have people that love you, not only me."

"Doing just fine before I met you? The only people I talked to before I met you were Sara and Jon. No one else. I didn't want to socialize, I only wanted to work. Work and tear stuff up. I was a loner, I wasn't very friendly, I didn't really see a reason to get up in the morning, besides going to the lab and working. I had no life before I met you. I was not doing just fine."

"Well, you have a life now, with or without me. Look at those people over there. Sara, Stella, Jon, Steven, Travis. They're all great people. All of them."

"Look, I really would rather not talk about this now. I just want to get you to safety in the Capitol. Are you sure you can walk?"

"Yes, Seth. I'm fine. Really."

"I just love you, Syd. So damn much."

"I love you, Seth. Let's go. I think they're about ready."

They were just finishing up putting everything up and making sure the fire was completely out.

"You guys ready?" Jon asked the group. There were collective sighs and nods.

Just putting the backpack over my back caused me immeasurable pain, but I didn't let on. Regardless of my inward curses (and there were many), I kept a straight face and smiled at the group that was staring at me, looking for a sign of pain that would call off us leaving and prolong our stay in this wide open field.

"Are we gonna go, or are you all going to stand around staring at me?" I laughed and started off in the direction we had came from before, back towards the dirt road we had long been traveling on.

"Well... You heard her, I guess. We can either stand around staring or we can go... And considering she's already halfway across the field, I'd say we better go..."

God, I was in so much pain. There's no way that this is healthy. But there's no way I was going to be the weak, pathetic little Earth-tard that made us stay in the field. No. Damn. Way.

The steps we were taking seemed so slow, small and worthless. But we were actually making good headway, considering. It felt like we had been walking four hours, but in reality it had probably only been about thirty minutes, when Travis fell back to where Seth and I were walking, a little bit behind him.

"How you holding up, Earth-tard?"

"Fine and dandy." I responded through gritted teeth.

"You're lying." He quipped back.

"No, I'm not. I'm fine." Damn, Travis. Just shut up and forget about it.

"Really? Then why are you breathing so hard? And gritting your teeth? And your face is all red and splotchy."

"Syd, I'm not stupid. I know you're hurting." Seth added. "I wasn't going to force you to admit it, because I knew it wouldn't do any good. But I know. I can tell."

"Guys. I'm. FINE. Seriously. Yeah, there's a little bit of pain, but it is NOTHING that I can't handle!"

"Travis, can you take this bag, do you think?" Oh, no. What was he going to do? Hit me? Shake me into admitting that I was in so much pain I just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry? He slid the bag off of his shoulder and Travis threw it around his. Then he stood in front of me and offered out his hands. "Climb up."

"What?" I was honestly confused. Not what I had been expecting.

"Climb. Up. You're in pain. I can't stand seeing you in pain. Climb on my back."

"I'm not climbing on your back and being carried around like some helpless little girl! I'm perfectly fine to walk on my own."

"Please, Syd. If you love me, climb up."

A pause.

"That's low. You know that, right?" I muttered as I climbed onto his back. The pain of getting up there was horrible, but when I was actually on his back, the pain was reduced considerably. "Using the 'if you love me' card already. Tsk, tsk." But I was smiling as I laid my head on his shoulder and felt his muscles moving under my legs and arms, his warm body heat radiating into mine. He's so manipulative, and knows just how to get his way. I love this kid.

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><p><strong>That Syd was still alive and kicking, though you probably knew that of course. Couldn't very well have a story if our main character died, now could we? Or... Could we? DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN. Haha. Review? If you want to, ya know. I'd appreciate it a whole bunch.<strong>


	10. Id Ask You To Stay Here With Me Til Then

Alright, guys. I'm still a little befuddled. I read another commentary on Tara Gillespie(or however you spell it)'s My Immortal last night. It was insanely hilarious, but my mind is still a little melted from attempting to decipher the rubbish. This chapter may seem a little rushed. Skipping over all of the little details and such. I'm just ready to get to the action! I don't want to lose the interest of my readers (if I still have any). Symphony, if you're reading this, you're reviews make me smile. Thank you so much. I just wish you weren't an Anon so I could PM you! But thank you. Also, I woke up this morning and ten minutes later I was laying in my common room floor, crying my eyes out and in to much pain to move. Apparently, I have a UTI. My roommate went and got me some pills, and now my pee is orange. That is all.

"Alright, guys. We're about thirty minutes away from the Capitol. Let's take a break and make a plan, alright?" Jon suggested. We stopped and Seth finally let me down. I'd been arguing for thirty minutes about how I could walk on my own now, but he just ignored me. It was like I was arguing with a brick wall. But I was down now, and kind of wishing I was back up there. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and gently pulled me into him, so I was able to rest most of my weight against him. He kissed my forehead as we stood, waiting for instructions. "When we get there, we're going straight to Aunt Turners house. Hopefully she'll be able to get us an appointment with the Government soon. But we need to lay low. Attract as little attention as possible getting to her house, don't talk to anyone. Don't make eye contact with anyone. Just keep your heads down."

"What if someone stops us?" Stella asked.

"Then we just tell them that we went camping for a few days and are on our way back home. A simple story that will explain our bags and our dirty bodies and clothes." The group nodded. That would cover pretty much every questionable aspect of us. "Do you know exactly where your aunt's house is?"

Sara answered, "It's by the river. About three blocks from the Capitol Street. We can avoid the majority of the Capitol if we go around and walk along the river, but it will take longer and the river is known to have wild animals surrounding it."

"Hmm. We'd probably be best to just stick with the roads, then. I don't want to take a chance on another animal attack." He looked at me as he said this, and I dropped my head in shame. I felt so bad that I had gotten hurt. If only I hadn't been stubborn and had just climbed up the damn tree. But, no. I had to be a persistent little kid and try to get Seth to come up with me. Of course they wouldn't have been able to hurt him. He's fucking invincible. But I wasn't thinking about that at the time. I wanted him with me, up high in the safety of the trees.

We began our trek again. That would be the last stop until we got to 'Aunt Turner' 's house. Seth grabbed me back up onto his back.

"Really, Seth. I appreciate this and all, but I can walk. It would probably make me heal quicker."

"You're hurt. You're moving to slow." Was the only answer I got. I shut up and held on.

It wasn't long until we got to the Capitol. I don't know what I had been expecting. Big, pretty buildings, trees, animals running around, bright colors, lots of traffic... Whatever I was expecting, I'm sure that it was way different than reality.

The buildings were big, yes. And pretty, yes. But not the big and pretty I had been thinking. The trees here were as sparse as every where else. The roads were relatively empty, save for a few people walking. This was kind of depressing.

"Turn left up here." Sara told the group. We did and walked a few blocks, turned right, left again, right again, then she told us to stop. The walk through the Capitol was completely uneventful. The only thing that happened was a group of kids around our age walked past us, laughing and cutting up. No altercations or anything. "This is it."

Seth let me off of his back as we walked up the sidewalk to her front door. The house was beautiful. A Tudor style mini-mansion. Way more than I had been expecting. The houses on this road were spaced out further than the first road we'd walked in on and there was actually room for beauty out here. She had a tree in her front yard, along with a fountain and a bird house. It was very nice. We got to the door and Sara knocked.

It wasn't thirty seconds later before the door was open and a beautiful woman was standing there. "Sara! Seth!" She welcomed the siblings in with open arms, hugging and kissing them on the cheek. "Come in, come in, all of you!" The lady had a warm appearance. The beautiful blonde hair that graced Seth and Sara, big dark blue eyes, a big smile. She just looked happy. We piled in after the siblings and shut the door. I felt completely safe for the first time in a while.

We went into the kitchen and she started preparing a lunch for us while we got to know her.

"So, you're Sydley, eh?" She asked, looking me.

"Yes ma'am. That's me." I smiled.

"Our little Sethey's Xanadu. One of the saviors of my niece and nephew while they were on Earth. Now here to save both planets. Oooh, yes. I know all about you. I got a call the night you arrived on Kubla Khan. I like what I've heard so far. Don't make me change my mind." She returned my smile.

"I'll try my best."

"Atta girl. Alright, well, I'll go call and get an appointment set up. I'd say the soonest that they will have available will be tomorrow sometime. Is that okay, or would you like a few days?"

"No." Jon told her. "The sooner the better. Let's just get this over with."

Sara had gotten me some pain killers that I took with the soup that Aunt Turner had made for us. "Syd, would you like to go over what all to say?" She asked.

"I would LOVE that. I'm lost." And I really was. Was I just going to go in there, hand them the device and tell them to figure it out on their own.

"We're assuming that you'll be meeting with the President and her Council." She told me.

"President Sheen is very... Straight to the point. Don't beat around the bush with her." Stella threw in.

"Seth, go get the device. We need to teach her how to use it." Jon pointed out.

I didn't want Seth to leave my side for even a minute. But I knew I was being one of those pathetic girlfriends who are so dependent on their boyfriends that it makes people sick. I just felt better when he was here. He was gone for less than a minute, and we all moved into a living room. Seth and I shared an armchair while the others settled down on the other furniture in the room.

"Alright, Syd." Seth put the device in my hand. "Slide your thumb over this sensor right there. Now those buttons on the screen, click on the one that says 'hologram' and set it on the table." I did as he told me and set the device on the table. There was a beautiful, picturesque meadow being projected out.

"Touch any of the trees." Sara told me. When I did so, text popped up. Earth's atmosphere is compatible with Kubla Khans. It has survived due to the regeneration of plants, trees, and other oxygen producing resources. As these resources are destroyed, so is the atmosphere, it read. "Read them the text and explain that it would be as simple as just bringing back some plants and seeds from Earth and planting them all over our planet. If we produce more oxygen and destroy it less, then our planet would be able to survive. We would need to continue to act responsibly as we are now, cutting down driving cars and other harmful activities so that we can continue to regenerate our atmosphere."

"Seems simple enough." Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad.

"Also point out that cutting down or destroying the new plants and trees would make sure that it had no affect, so they would need to be put on an endangered or untouchable list." Steven added.

"Okay, so let's see. Run thumb over sensor, press 'hologram', and touch a tree. Read off the text in the box and suggest bringing plants, trees and seeds from Earth and planting around Kubla Khan. Suggest continuing non-harmful acts and putting plants/trees on an untouchable list. Straight to the point, no beating around the bush." I repeated.

"You'll do great." Seth walked up behind me and whispered into my ear. He kissed the top of my head and pick up the device, turning it off and taking it back to wherever he'd gotten it from.

Aunt Turner came in and informed us that she had gotten an appointment for 11:00 the next morning. I would need to be there by 10:00 for the standard security check in. She also told us that, "They've requested I come in and sit in on the meeting! They also said that they were going to have official scientists sitting in, to make sure that what you're saying makes sense!"

"So, they know what I'm going to be talking about?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. They must know these things so they can decide if they want to waste their time with a meeting or not. You'll be great, Syd."

"It's a big relief knowing that you'll be in there with me." I told her. "It's always easier when you know at least _one_ person is friendly. And on your side!"

"It makes me feel better, too." Seth added in. "I definitely wasn't thrilled about you being in the Capitol building alone." He pulled me into him. "See, this is a good sign. Everything's going to work out. Nothing to worry about." He smiled.

The rest of the day was spent just resting around Aunt Turner's house. It was a nice, comfortable house. Once again, I thought of Jack. Wondered if he was all alone in his motel room, or if maybe he and Alex had stayed in contact and spent some time together. I didn't want to think about him being alone. I knew how much he hated being alone.

Seth took me for a walk, just the two of us. We went to Capitol Square and he took me to an artificial park that was actually plastic, since they couldn't get hardly anything else to live. It was nice just spending an hour alone with him, talking and laughing, walking hand in hand without a worry, if only for a bit.

When we got back, Aunt Turner had spaghetti and bread and was putting it on plates.

"Ah, just in time for supper. Here, grab a drink, take your plates to the dining room, and tell everyone that dinner is ready."

We did as she said and sat down for a nice, relaxing dinner. Her spaghetti was amazing. It had marinara sauce and tons of tomatoes, just the way I like it. I could get used to her cooking. Jack was a miserable cook, so if we ever ate anything it was either a quick microwave meal, something that required no cooking like cereal or a sandwich, or one of my mediocre meals, if we had the money for actual groceries that week.

After dinner, we all pitched in at cleaning up and then turned in early. Tomorrow was the big day. I would be in the meeting and they would be outside the Capitol building, waiting for a sign that something had gone badly wrong. Aunt Turner had set Seth and I up in separate rooms, but it wasn't five minutes after everyone went to bed before Seth was knocking on my door and slipping into my bed.

"I don't know that I'll be able to sleep without you in my arms anymore, honestly." He smiled. "It's been so long."

"I was just thinking of how lonely I was." I smiled back.

Alright, guys. It took me a minute to get this out, but here we go. Big big big chapter that will hopefully be out soon. But, tell me. Am I going wrong with the story? I used to get a good bit of reviews, and i'm getting a lot of subscriptions, but I only get one review a chapter, if i'm lucky, now. Sad day. Let me know if you're not liking the story! Reviews don't have to be good!


	11. I Think I'm Falling For You

**To make up for my unforgivably long absence, I present you with my longest chapter to date. I apologize so freaking deeply. Also, I fear that this might be a very lame ending to this story. There will still be one more chapter after this. Only one. I'm ending it now, but I SHALL return and rewrite this ending. That I can assure you. Forgive me, my loves.**

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><p>I woke up to Seth gently rubbing my back. "Syd, it's about 7:00. Aunt will have breakfast ready soon. We should get up and go over the plan one more time."<p>

"Mmmm." I groaned into his chest, hoping that I would be able to get just five more minutes. Truth was, I was nervous as hell. I wasn't sure that I could do this. I don't think that I've even fully comprehended what exactly is at stake here. I never was that great at presentations during class. I stopped breathing and talked really really really fast. I almost passed out once, because I wasn't breathing. What if I pass out during this meeting? Or if I throw up all over the President? Surely that wouldn't be a good idea. That would probably be the fastest way to get this mission to fail. What if something goes wrong and they put me in prison? I don't think it's a crime to be from Earth, but at the same time, I wasn't sure. Why had we had to sneak the entire way here? Was it because of me being and Earthling? Why hadn't I thought it important to ask these questions before?

Seth just laughed and brushed my hair out of my face and kissed my forehead lightly. He carefully pulled his arm out from under me and jumped over me, rolling out of the bed. The bed was cold without him, so I huffed and followed him out of the bed. He was already walking out, I assumed he was going to his room to get dressed. I threw on some clothes and walked out, going down to where the others were already grouped in the kitchen, piling food onto their plates.

"So, today's the big day!" Steven rubbed my arm encouragingly.

"Yep." I muttered, not keen on being reminded.

"You ready for this?" Travis asked.

"Of course, she's ready." Sara smiled. "She'll be brilliant and will come out of the Capitol building a hero of both planets!"

I smiled at her, gracious for her encouraging words, but they didn't exactly make me feel better.

"Well, let's not talk about this just yet, yeah? Let Syd enjoy her breakfast!" Aunt Turner quipped, for which I was extremely grateful.

Breakfast flew by, as did my shower and the quick run by of what I was supposed to do and say. In no time, we were walking to Capitol Street. While Aunt Turner and I were inside the building, the others would be across the street, watching for anything suspicious. Hopefully my powers would work through the building. Seth was walking as close as possible to my side and holding my hand so tightly I thought it might fall off. He kept kissing my temple lightly as we walked. I'm not sure if that was his attempt to make me feel better, but if it was then it wasn't working. It felt more like the last final kisses before someone goes off to war before they die. The butterflies in my stomach felt more like bats. Big, huge bats. I thought I was going to throw up everywhere. I'm pretty sure I was sweating, even though the air surrounding us was surprisingly crisp for the summer. The walk seemed to take only five seconds, and we were there in no time.

"Alright." Aunt Turner turned to where Seth and I were walking behind her. "We're here. To your positions, everyone."

The others all gathered around my, patting my back and giving good bye hugs. Seth took the longest, planting a long kiss on my forehead, then pulling back to lock his blue eyes into mine. "You'll be brilliant. Just hurry back. And try to keep checking to make sure that you can communicate with someone out here at random." I nodded my head, staring into his eyes, hoping that I was putting on a brave face. "I love you." He whispered into my ear before planting a light kiss on my lips and dropping his hands from my shoulders.

"I love you." I whispered back as he walked away. "I'll see you soon." I said confidently as I smiled and walked up to Aunt Turner.

"You ready?" She asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose."

We walked into the Capitol building, a big stone building that I could tell was beautiful at some time, before it started to look worn and dirty. The inside was still magnificent, a shock from the dirty outside. Glass chandeliers hung all around the humongous open atrium type thing we had walked into. I could see the floors going up and up and up... There had to be at least 30 of them, if not more! There were hundreds of people walking around these floors, none paid us any attention. We walked up to the front desk and Aunt Turner signed us in.

"If you two will just head up to the 15th floor to begin your security check-in's, your meeting will begin soon." The friendly looking lady pointed us to the elevators. "Have a nice visit!"

She was oddly friendly for someone working for a government that was attempting to take over another living planet.

Once inside the elevators, which we were miraculously alone in, Aunt Turner turned to me. "Should you need to address me, call me Ms. Turner or Ms. Cassidy. I'm not sure how the government would take to you calling me Aunt!"

I nodded my head, then thought of something. "Actually, do you not think that it would make the fact that Earthlings and Khan's are compatible more obvious? If they see that we already have a family like relationship, then perhaps they will realize that Earthlings aren't bad people!"

"That's a brilliant idea! Forget what I said. Just call me Auntie!" She smiled and patted my back. We arrive on the 15th floor and unloaded from the elevator. There was another help desk equipped with an overly friendly pretty woman who pointed us into "Security room 4". Once inside the room, I was sat in front of a grumpy looking man in front of a tablet like thing.

"Name?" He asked.

"Sydley Compton."

"Age?"

"Seventeen."

"What business do you have in the Capitol building?"

"I'm here to present the evidence found to support the theory that Kubla Khan does not have to take over Earth, and that the atmosphere here is, in fact, still able to be saved."

The worker looked up at me with disbelief in his eyes. "You think you're going to save Earth?" I nodded. "Good luck with that and may you be ever successful in your attempt."

The fact that he approved of my mission made me relax considerably. If a government worker thought that finding a way to save Kubla Khan without taking over Earth was a good idea, then perhaps the rest of them would agree! The questions went by quickly and, after showing him the device that I would be using to make my presentation and him checking it over to be sure it was nothing harmful, he stood and escorted Aunt Turner and myself into an elevator. He pressed a button marked -5, the doors shut and we began our dissent.

"-5?" I asked.

"The room you will be meeting in is underground, on the fifth level. Hope you're not claustrophobic."

Hm. This could be a spot of trouble. I realized that I hadn't tried to communicate with anyone since I arrived, so I tried for Sara.

**Sara? Sara, can you hear me?**

_**Yes! I can hear you. Are you guys okay?**_

**We're okay! We're heading down to the meeting room now. It's five floors below ground!**

_**Just don't think about being underground, Syd. You'll do great, sister.**_

Her calling me sister shocked me a bit. Yes, they had quickly become my family, but I had never thought of it as having a sister before. That was nice. All too soon, the elevator was stopping, the doors were dinging and sliding open, and I was being ushered off and into a meeting room. They were a lot like the meeting rooms you see on movies... for prisoners. Dark, with no windows and very minimal lighting. A cold long metal table was surrounded with ten or so cold, straight backed, metal chairs.

"Take a seat the end there," the worker pointed me to a chair. "And good luck, Miss Compton." The he shut the door and was gone. I sat in the chair he had pointed to and Aunt Turner sat at the corner chair to my left.

"And now, we wait. Hopefully, it won't take them too long to get in here. You remember what to do and say?"

I nodded and closed my eyes. "Slide my finger over the sensor and press hologram. Touch a tree and read the text in the box. Suggest bringing plants, trees and seeds from Earth. Also suggest keeping the ban on non-harmful acts and making sure that no plants and trees are harmed."

"Yes! Simple as that. Just keep calm. Keep calm and kick ass." She smiled and winked.

I smiled back, "I'm going to try and reach Seth. I got Sara on the elevator, but I'm not sure how my powers will work actually being five floors underground." She nodded and I closed my eyes, focusing all my energy on the wire connecting my mind to Seth's, praying that this would work.

**Seth? Can you hear me?**

I waited, but I didn't get a response.

**Seth? Seth?... Sara? Can you hear me?**

I got a weird static noise in my head, like when your radio loses its station.

**Guys? Can either of you hear me?**

Another weird static.

I told Aunt Turner of the static, and she just laughed. "You've only had your powers a little while. You're five feet underground. I would have considered it a miracle if they had worked!"

I sighed, frustrated. I had been relying on my ability to converse with Seth and Sara if needed to keep me sane.

The seconds ticked by slowly, as opposed to how quickly the rest of that morning had gone. It seemed like I had been in the waiting room for an entire day. I'm not sure if it was because I knew what was coming or because of the fact that I couldn't see the light, so I had no way of knowing how much time had passed.

Finally, the door to the room opened. In walked two blondes who HAD to be Seth and Sara's parents. I swear, their entire family must be beautiful, pale skinned, blue eyed blondes. They were followed by two men in what looked like guard uniforms, who said nothing but stood behind the chairs that the couple sat in.

"Ah, brother. How is prison treating you?"

"Just peachy. How's freedom?"

"As grand as ever." She laughed, then turned to me. "Sydley, this is my brother, Saiden and his wife, Saihbon. This is Sydley. She's here to save the planets. She's also your sons Xanadu." She smiled hugely

"Xanadu!" Mrs. Turner exclaimed.

"Here to save the planets?" Mr. Turner asked.

"It's nice to meet you, both. Yes, Seth and Sara ended up in my uncles cab, while on Earth. My uncle and I are very stubborn people and wouldn't leave when they asked us too. Turned out to be a good thing, we saved their lives a few times. And during all of this... I... Fell in love with your son. I fell in love with your daughter too, though in a different sense that the way that I love Seth. I'm here to present your experiment to the President, in hopes that they will believe it and that a neutral face whose family has not been imprisoned with do some good. We're hoping that me being an Earthling will drive home the point that Earth is not a horrible planet and doesn't deserve to be taken over."

"Well, let's just hope you're successful." Mrs. Turner smiled at me as she patted my hands that were laying on the table.

"They're not aware that it's our experiment that you're presenting?"

I turned to Aunt Turner, and she shook her head. "No, I didn't tell them whose experiment it is. Just that it may save our planet."

"That was a good idea." He nodded. We fell silent as the door came open again. This time, a brunette woman who looked to be in her 50's walked in, followed by a group of men and women, ranging in age. They were all wearing looks of disinterest on their faces already. As they got settled into their seats, all of their eyes were trained on either the President or at myself. I tried to make eye contact with each of them, trying to put on a great brave face for each and every one of them.

Finally, the president stood up and cleared her throat. "Miss Compton, I am President Sheen. Please, let us see what you have." then she sat back down.

I stood up and smiled, "Hello, I'm Sydley Compton. I'm from Earth, and when I heard about your planets troubles, I began conducting an experiment." There was a lot of noise when I admitted that I was from Earth, however no one interrupted me. "I'm here to show you the outcome of this experiment, which proves that your atmosphere, and your world can be saved."

I slid my finger over the sensor and pressed the words and images that I had practiced time and time again.

"This image is of a meadow on Kubla Khan. If you were to go to this meadow now, it would look nothing like this. Instead, you would see dead trees, dead grass and no animals." I touched the trees, and the text box popped up. "Earth's atmosphere is compatible with Kubla Khans. It has survived centuries of harmful treatment due to the successful regeneration of plants, trees and other oxygen producing resources. As the resources are destroyed, so is the atmosphere. In order to save Kubla Khans planet, Earth is, in fact, needed. However, the take over of that planet is not. It will be as simple as going to Earth and retrieving oxygen producing plants, seeds and trees, and bringing them back to Kubla Khan! If we can produce more oxygen than we are destroying, the planet would be able to survive! The planet would also need to continue to act responsibly as they are now, cutting down pollution inducing acts, reducing the driving of cars and other such harmful activities that do not have to be preformed. It may take a while for the atmosphere to get back to normal, but I can almost guarantee that in the end, it will be better than it ever was before! So instead of costing thousands of lives on Kubla Khan and billions of lives on Earth, let's just save this beautiful planet and restore it to the magnificent place it once was."

Then I sat back down. I hoped that that would be enough, because I didn't know what else I was supposed to do.

"Well, if that is it, then I will ask you to kindly step outside while I talk our decision over with my Council and our Scientists."

I stood and thanked them for their time and consideration before stepping out into the dark hallway. To my surprise, the wait for them to come out and retrieve me was surprisingly quick. Aunt Turner opened the door with a smile on her face and whispered, "Great work! Come on in."

I followed her in the door and sat down in the seat I had previously been in. The President stood up again and spoke. "After taking all of your opinions into consideration, I have decided that I will go through... with the new plan. I do love Kubla Khan and would hate to see it go to waste. If you truly believe that this will save our planet, we shall try it. If it doesn't work, then we will continue on with our original plan."

YES! I celebrated the victory silently in my mind.

"However, I have also decided that, as an illegal person on our planet without permission, you shall be placed in our jails until we decide what is to be done with you."

"What?" I couldn't believe it. "But, I only came here to save your planet as well as mine!"

"Be that as it may, there are rules. Rules that were not followed." She had a stern look on her face. The others around the table had looks of disbelief on their faces. One of the men opened his mouth,

"Come on, President Sheen. Surely you can cut her some slack. After all, she surely didn't know. And she was only doing what she thought was right."

"Silence, Connors. Guards." The President snapped her fingers. The guards that had transported the Turners in came over and grabbed my arms beside me.

**Cassidy! What do I do?**

_**I don't know! I wasn't expecting this! Don't worry, we'll get you out. Just go. Behave. Do as they tell you. We'll get you out of here.**_

So I did as she said. I stood and went with them, putting up no struggle.

"There's a good girl." The one holding my right arm said. "If you don't put up a struggle, we won't have to hurt you."

"I just don't understand." I mumbled. "I didn't know I was going to get arrested for saving the planets."

"Honestly kid, neither did we." The one on my left told me. "We're just doing our jobs."

I hung my head as we walked towards the elevators. We got in and they pressed the button for the 29th floor. At least we were going above ground! Maybe I'd be able to communicate with Seth and Sara there!

"The prison is on the 29th floor?" It didn't make sense to me that the meeting rooms were underground, but the prison was above.

"Prison? No, no. You're just going to a holding room. You'll be transported to the prison after your fate is decided. She'll have to convince the Judge and a group of Councils to punish you. I wouldn't worry too much, little girl."

When we got to the 29th floor, we walked out into a hallway that was pure white. The doors had little square windows on them, and nothing else. It was like the typical insane asylum holding rooms. They opened up one of the doors and led me inside. There was a long rectangle sticking out of the wall. I assumed it was a bed chair thing. There was also a wall full of nothing but windows.

"You stay here. We'll be back for you when it's decided what happens to you."

"Thank you." I smiled. Even if they were putting me in a holding room, they had still seemed reluctant and unhappy to do so.

I sat on the bed and tried my powers.

**Sara? Can you hear me?**

_**Sydley! Finally! I was getting so worried. I heard you, but I don't guess you could hear what I was saying back! What's going on?**_

**The President put me in a holding room! She wants me charged for being here without permission! I'm on the 29th floor!**

_**Is there any way you can get out?**_

**I don't think so... There's people everywhere, and I don't think that the President would make it that easy for me to escape. The wall is pure window though... Do you think you could levitate me?**

_**I may be able to... I lifted you before. But 29 floors is a lot more of a fall than just a few feet!**_

**I'm willing to try. Hang on, I'm going to bust out the window. I can't see you. Where are you?**

_**We're still in the park! Hang on, we'll move around. Let me know when you see one of us.**_

**I see Steven!**

The rest of the group all gathered around him as I looked for something to throw out the window. There was nothing, so I tried kicking it. That didn't work either. All that got me was a hurt foot. I looked for another way out, and had almost given up when I saw... There was a lock on the window. I slid the lock back and threw the window open. The windows were slip in half, with one long left window and one long right window. Really, the Capitol made it way too easy to escape.

**Alright, the windows open. What do I do now?**

_**Hope that this works.**_

I closed my eyes and felt myself being lifted. Oh, this felt so weird. I didn't like not having my feet on the ground. I kept my eyes as tightly closed as possible. Before I knew it, I felt Seth's strong arms wrap around me. He kissed my forehead and pulled me into him.

"We have to get you out of here!" He said urgently.

"Where's Aunt Cassidy? You're parents were nice. What's going on? Where are we going to go?" I wasn't sure what to expect. If I had been worried before, I was scared out of my mind now.

"Aunt Cassidy will be fine. We have to get back to her house, now!"

The others grouped around me, keeping me hidden from peoples sight. Seth wasn't letting go of my hand. But the others, while serious, were still estatic.

"So, how'd it go?" "What did they say?" "Did they go for it?"

"Yeah! They're going to try this plan! But she said if it doesn't work, which I'm positive it will, that they will continue with the original."

"Woo!" "Yeah!" "Alright!" "Good job, guys!" Yells of excitement filled the air.

"I'm glad they went for it. But you can't stay here!" Seth whispered.

"What? What do you mean, I can't stay here?" I had just fought for the freedom of this planet, but I wasn't allowed to stay?

"They will find you, Sydley. If you stay on Kubla Khan, they will hunt you down. If you were going to be freed before, there's now way you would be freed now. You just ran away from the law."

"So, I'm going back to Earth?"

"Yes. It's the only choice."

This saddened me, a lot. I had all these friends here! And not to mention Seth and Sara. I was positive that they wouldn't be joining me on Earth. This is their home, after all. Their home that would, sooner or later, be back to the glorious beautiful planet that it had once been. Why would they ever want to come to Earth? But what would happen between Seth and I? My mind went blank, my body cold. I had been under a lot of pressure recently, and even though all of that was over, this pushed me over the edge.

The next thing I knew, I was on a spaceship heading back to Earth.


	12. I Think I, Tonight, I Love You

**Hey, guys. Better get ready for a whole lot of flash forwards.**

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><p>A year later.<p>

I woke up in my nice warm bed. I couldn't believe it had been a year since all of that crap went down. It didn't seem real. Since Earth wasn't ever taken over, I assumed that the experiment worked. I slowly pulled myself out of bed and threw on my house shoes. These hardwood floors were brutally cold, even in the late summer time. I walked out of my bedroom and down to the first floor of the house that Jack and Alex had bought together after the publishing of their book had been so successful.

"Good morning, sleepy head." Alex smiled at me as I walked into the kitchen, looking for something to eat.

"Morning, Alex. Where's Jack?"

"He's in the dining room, along with everyone else. Can you help me and take this food in there?"

I grabbed a huge plate of pancakes and sausage and took them into the dining room where I saw my family gathered around our huge table.

"Morning, guys!" I sat the food down and sat down between Seth and Mrs. Turner, who now insisted that I call her mom. I didn't object to that. After I presented the experiment and was forced to run, Seth, Sara, Aunt Turner, Mr. and Mrs. Turner, Stella, Steven, Jon, and Travis had all come with me on the spaceship to Earth. Stella, Steven, Jon and Travis had only stayed for a little while, but they came back to visit often. The others stayed permanently. Mr. and Mrs. Turner had become like a father and mother to me and I loved it. Jack and Alex loved them as much as I did. Jack and I often talk about how crazy it is that in one year, we went from living a lonely life of a cab driver and his ward in a dingy motel room with not enough money to live off of, to living in a huge house with our great big family.

Jack and Alex had gotten married not long after we got back. It was a beautiful September wedding, and everybody could tell how happy the both of them were. Now it's July, and Alex's stomach is protruding very far. We're expecting baby Cooper any day now. Seth, Sara and I had all gone back to school. But were home schooled instead. With them being very smart, and me technically already being a senior, we were able to graduate with no problems. Sara is working at a veterinarian clinic not far from the house, and is seeing a man she works with. Seth and I are still together, as happy as ever. We fight still, over the little things, but it's never anything serious. We just like to pick at each other. And honestly, I love making up with him.

We sat and enjoyed our breakfast together when Alex finally joined us. Mr. and Mrs. Turner had to go into work at the University of Las Vegas, where they work as different branches of Science professors. Apparently, their classes were very popular and full, even in the summer time.

Seth and I both had gotten jobs at a doctors office, not far from the house. I'm a receptionist and he's an assistant. They're sending him to dental school in the Fall to become a dentist. Aunt Turner owned her own day care down by the strip and was doing magnificently. As you can tell, we were all doing great. Life was amazing and we hadn't had any problems out of Burke or Kubla Khan in ages.

Even Junkyard had gotten himself a girlfriend, who he was obviously in puppy love with.

Life was good.

**Six months later**

It was date night for Seth and I. We had gone into town and went to a cute little cafe for dinner, and then had walked to the ice cream shoppe not far down the road.

"How's your ice cream?" He asked, laughing as I rolled my eyes back in ecstasy.

"Ah-MAY-zing! How's yours?"

"It's great. Hey, Syd? Can I ask you something?"

"You just did." I laughed.

He rolled his eyes. "Two things?"

"Go ahead."

"You know, we've only known each other for a year and a half. But I feel as if no matter how long I know you, I will never truly know everything about you. You are beautiful and funny. Smart and sarcastic. Stubborn and loving. But ever changing. And I love everything about you. I plan on spending the rest of my life with you, and giving everything that I am and ever will be to you. If you will have me, of course. I love you, from here until the end of the universe."

I gasped, definitely not expecting that. I wasn't even sure what to say, but he took care of it for me. He stood up from the table top we were sitting on and stood in front of me, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a beautiful silver ring.

"Please, Sydley. Will you do me the honor of tying yourself to me for eternity? Will you marry me?"

Oh, my goodness! He proposed! I definitely wasn't expecting this! But I took no time in jumping into his arms, laughing and smiling, and planting a huge kiss on his mouth. "Of course, I will marry you, Seth. I love you, but no matter what I use to describe my love to you, it will be no where as beautiful as the words that just came out of your mouth. I would love nothing more than to tie myself to you for all of eternity."

He smiled and kissed me back, slipping the ring onto my finger. "Just hearing you say the word yes was beautiful enough."

The few people that had been surrounding us at the other tables were all showing various forms of congratulations. Some actually spoke it, others clapped, and others stuck with, "Awwwhh!"'s. I couldn't believe that I was engaged to the love of my life. To my Xanadu.

**One year later.**

It was December. It was cold. And it was my wedding day. Mr. Turner had made a call to Kubla Khan. All of my crimes had been forgiven! So our entire family, including Baby Cooper and Sara's boyfriend Max, were at the Turners house on their planet. The wedding would take place in the field behind their house, were a beautiful covered bridge had been built years and years ago. There weren't many chairs, for we weren't expecting many people to show up. After all, I was an Earthling on a different planet and the Turners had spent their last few years on this planet as outlaws.

I was already in my wedding gown, a beautiful white flowing gown with extravagant lace and beading all over, and short lacy sleeves (link is posted at bottom of story). My make up, done by Stella, was a neutral brown, bringing out my eyes. Light blush covered my cheeks, a touch of mascara and a quick slide of chap-stick (lipstick was never my forte and besides, who wants a lipstick smeared bride and groom?), and I was done. Sara had done my hair, mostly straight but with a bit of wave, and my bangs twirled and pulled back to the side. Just, simple. There was a white lily in my hair, as was in Stella and Sara's. Their bridesmaid dresses were a simple turquoise color, looking like a toga of sorts with a simple white braided belt around their waists. They had their hair pulled back similar to mine, with natural make up on as well. They were beautiful, and so was I.

Jack and Alex walked into Sara's bedroom where we were getting ready.

"Oh, you're all so beautiful!" Alex squealed, running to hug and kiss all of us on the cheek. "Simply beautiful."

"Beautiful." Jack echoed, sounding tearful.

"NO tears!" I warned, laughing.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Jack asked. We'd had this conversation twenty times in the past three days.

"Jack, I love him. He loves me. I know, we're young. But why wait? I'm just ready to officially be his."

"I just don't see the harm in waiting. I know it's going to happen eventually, I know you two kids love each other, but... I'm not ready to lose my little girl."

I laughed, and gave him a hug. "You're not losing me, Jackie. I'm like the flu. I'll always be around."

He wiped away a single tear. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just get the show on the road!"

We walked down stairs and out of the house, into the field behind their house and over to the covered bridge where everyone was already seated. The others all stood in line under the arch way. Stella and Sara on one side, Steven, Jon, Travis and Seth on the other. They all looked spectacular, but all I could pay attention to was my pale skinned, blond haired and blue eyed alien boy standing at the end of the aisle, waiting to declare his love to me to the world. Well, maybe not the world, but the audience. He was smiling hugely as I walked down the aisle. A light snow had started falling, not cold, but beautiful all the same. The Trumpet Bunnies were in a line, playing the traditional Kubla Khan wedding march. But I didn't hear it. Just like I didn't see Mr. and Mrs. Turner, Auntie Cassidy, President Sheen and her Council, or the Security Clearance guy sitting in the seats. All I saw was my Xanadu.

It seemed like it took Jack and I forever to make it down the short aisle. But we finally did. Jack placed my hand into Seth's eager hand, kissed me on the cheek and whispered, "You take care of her, you hear?" to Seth. He only smiled, "Of course. Forever." and Jack sat down in the crowd.

The Ordinator of Matrimony stood between us, and spoke the most beautiful words. But her beautiful words were nothing. The only beauty that mattered was the one across the alter from me, holding my hands and staring into my eyes. We spoke our oaths. Junkyard brought the rings down the aisle and we placed those on our hands. We had our kiss. We were married.

I was grateful for the little make up, because by the end of the Ceremony, I was in tears. And I wasn't alone. I could hear Stella and Sara, the women in the crowd, sniffling. Even Seth had tears in his eyes. Tears of joy that we finally belonged to each other and that we finally had our definite future. One definite thing in our unpredictable life.

Each other.

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><p>pin/277464027012160541/ - Dress.

/pin/277464027012184604/ - Engagement ring.

/pin/272045633711233987/ - Ceremony.

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><p><strong>I hope those links work. At any rate, this is it. The final chapter. I hope it wasn't a disappointment to you all. I honestly appreciate each and every single one of your reviews. You're all simply amazing, and I've loved this journey we've all taken. Until my next story.<strong>

**xxx Moe.  
><strong>


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